UK unveils £159 billion defence equipment plan, but doubts remain

Britain published on Thursday a 159-billion-pound long-term defence equipment spending plan, a move aimed at reversing decades of mismanagement but which drew only qualified praise from experts.

The plan covers spending from 2012 to 2022, the first time the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has outlined defence equipment spending over such a long period, reflecting the gestation time of major military projects.

Equipment covered in the plan contained no surprises, having been outlined in the MoD's last major planning exercise, the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), which charted a course for British security needs by 2020.

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