Fuel Price increase drives French navy to port
The rapid rise in fuel prices has resulted in the French navy cancelling 3 summer missions. Sacre Bleu!
Read all about it here, as well as other places, I'm sure.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/...-Navy-Fuel.php
Fuchs may have a point about the cost of war (or at least as Western nations are set up to fight) becoming so excessive as to make it almost prohibitive for some to attempt it. At least unless it is an existential conflict.
No signature required, my handshake is good enough.
France to slash military manpower by 15 percent
PARIS (AP) — France's military will slash its ranks by 54,000 personnel and close dozens of air, army and other bases in an overhaul meant to slim forces at home while making it easier and faster to deploy troops abroad, the prime minister announced Thursday.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon said the 15 percent cut in manpower and base closings will save billions of dollars but still permit an agile military suited to the country's security needs.
Like other European countries, France is grappling with aging military equipment and budget constraints while facing new threats such as terrorism.
Fillon said the military units and bases slated for closure are "ones that are no longer adapted to today's threats."
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j...XwUvQD924EOUG1
Let me guess. The end result will be.....Viva la Legion!Originally Posted by AdamG
"Pick up a rifle and you change instantly from a subject to a citizen." - Jeff Cooper
Or more Franco-PMCs.
Wages are the cause?
Not solely a French problem, but IISS in comparing defence spending have a pie chart of defence spending, which shows that Western Europe spends 55% and the USA 20% on personnel. Point to ponder.
davidbfpo
Cross Reference
See in this same section, France's Livre Blanc
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=5591
for the French policy and strategy behind this RIF.
You have choice of French or English.
Maybe it will work - if the French public allows deadwood to be removed. Last time that happened was the 1789 Revolution (just joking).
Vive la Legion - non !
Vive le 1er régiment d'infanterie de marine !
http://www.defense.gouv.fr/terre/dec...erie_de_marine
See the little guy in the avatar (left) cheering his regiment. Non ? No imagination.
Thing is, that against the three or four potential "real" global enemies a war has become impossible, thanks to the nukes. What stays are second- and third-rate enemies and proxy wars. If after the end of the Cold War we've seen the big failure to adapt, it is caused by (i) the absence of a worthy enemy, and (ii) the inability of the political leadership to reshape the forces. (Economy and budgets might well do it for them in the next couple of years).
It is the dark side of the American Empire that from the very beginning it relied much more on armed actions than, say, the British Empire. Once you start to live by the sword...
As long as a war with China is seen as a possibility and a justification for the current force levels, costs will not go down.
If that Chinese war were ruled out, forces could easily be cut two thirds. And in the case of the Euro-Armies - they are, as is the whole continent, just fossilized and do not exist for any other reason than that they were always there.
Somebody mentioned something along the lines of minimal forces, but designed to be expanded in case of war. Total mobilisation it's called I guess.
I have my doubts - with things moving as slowly as they do these days. I doubt that you could churn out F-22s as fast as P-51s, even with a "total war" economy.
Prolonged war is dead, at least between nuclear armed powers. Short spurts of violence yes. But for that you just have to work with what's at hand; sometimes maybe with what's in theatre for the lack of time to re-enforce.
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