Admiral warns UK unable to defend Falkland Islands 13.06.11
22Defence cuts mean Britain could do "precisely nothing" to prevent Argentina retaking the Falkland Islands. The warning comes from Admiral Sir John "Sandy" Woodward in a letter to The Daily Telegraph. Drawing on his experience as head of the Naval task force during the conflict he says America is more keen on maintaining stability in Argentina and that Washington was pushing for negotiations over the sovereignty of the islands. In the letter he says that "significantly the islands are already being called the Malvinas by the US. This tells us which way the wind is blowing." He says claims that the island's "four ageing, ineffective Tornadoes" can be rapidly bolstered by others to maintain air defence "are ridiculous when only three Tornadoes out of a force of 135-odd could be found at similar short notice to bomb in Libya." His letter also pours scorn on any possibility of the French bringing their aircraft carrier into play. "With our land and air forces already over-committed in Afghanistan and Libya, with the defence budget still shrinking, our submarine force more than halved, our destroyer and frigate force halved, our carrier force more than halved in terms of deck availability and completely discarded in terms of fixed wing assets -- the answer appears to be that we can do precisely nothing other than accede to US pressure," the letter concludes. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the claims were completely without substance. He said: "The current garrison in the Falkland Islands is much larger in scale and has a greater capability than in 1980, and this together with our ability to reinforce rapidly by air has been maintained as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review. "We have a far greater presence than previously - not least a well defended airfield with Typhoon aircraft, and are able to respond to any and all threats. "We will keep our network of permanent defence joint operating bases, including the British Forces South Atlantic Islands, based on the Falklands Islands and Ascension Island, and maintain regular presence in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands."