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Defence cuts 'threaten UK military partnership with US'
Former US defence secretary Robert Gates says cuts in defence spending mean UK will no longer have 'full-spectrum capabilities'
Former US defence secretary Robert Gates said: 'With the fairly substantial reductions in defence spending in Great Britain, what we're finding is that it won't have full-spectrum capabilities and the ability to be a full partner as they have been in the past.' Photograph: David Cheskin/PA
A smaller armed forces would mean the UK could no longer be a full-spectrum military partner to the United States, America's former defence secretary has warned suggesting the traditional military basis of the UK-US special relationship is under threat.
Robert Gates, currently promoting his autobiography about his time at the Pentagon, told the BBC that cuts in the number of military staff would limit the UK's global position.
The government is planning major cuts to the armed forces. The army is being cut from 102,000 to 82,000 over a number of years, with the 20,000 posts expected to be gone by 2020.
Navy numbers are expected to fall by 6,000, while the RAF will lose 5,000 staff.
Gates is a Republican who served under presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush.
