The review, announced by David Cameron in October, included measures to cutmilitarypersonnel by 17, 000, scrap Nimrod spy planes and retire the HMS Ark Royal aircraft carrier leaving Britain without a carrier strike capability until the end of the decade.
In recent years as defense spending began leveling off, Pentagon policymakers canceled or cut back dozens of weapons systems, but they did little to reduce the bloated ranks of military and civilian personnel (not to mention contractors).