U.K. Shrinks Army to Half Cold-War Level, Boosts Reservists
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Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said the U.K. will cut its army to 82,000 personnel by 2020 from 102,000, around half its size at the height of the Cold War in 1978, as he announced which units will be merged or scrapped.
The cuts are part of broader government spending reductions, as well as a response to gaps in the defense-ministry budget that Hammond’s Conservative Party blames on the previous Labour administration. Hammond said the number of part-time reservists will be doubled to 30,000 by 2020 to back up the regular army in the biggest shakeup in 100 years.