It appears to be true. The wall-sized print will illustrate and provide details about all of the naval vessels in Maritime Command's inventory. The message is staggering. Fleet proportions will soon begin dwindling at a horrendous rate. That, of course, is not what bothers the nay-sayers.
Money stands in the way of their total commitment.
We do need a nuclear-powered submarine fleet. And we must indeed increase our land forces with 48,000 new reservists as suggested in the white paper. As you can well imagine, that isn't an easy question to answer. It's the 15 year budget that you have been waiting for, but, don't hold your breath whilst waiting for government approval. In the first three years, slightly more than 4.2 per cent is predicted, followed by three years at nearly 5.5 per cent growth.