MoD: 'Tough decisions needed to be made'

Tough decisions needed to be made to address the multibillion-pound deficit and bring the defence budget back into balance.

This unfortunately included making some redundancies across the armed forces. However we can be clear that these reductions will not affect our operational capability.

The end of combat operations in Afghanistan and the restructuring of our armed forces means they will be more reflective of the complex global situation and more adaptable to future challenges and threats.