UK to cut its Army to 60,000?

Thanks to Tom for the link!

via Daily Telegraph

Sir Nick told MPs: "There are already paper exercises going on in looking at what an Army of just 60,000 would look like because of the financial crunch that the department is going to be facing."
Last year the Chief of the Defence Staff, Gen Sir Nick Houghton, said he would “fix my bayonet and fight to the last," to prevent further Army cuts.
More cuts to the Army were last night attacked as “foolhardy in the extreme”.
Military leaders fear a defence review scheduled for after the election will see a repeat of 2010’s biting austerity cuts to the military budget.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has predicted the Chancellor's tax and spending policies will require an austerity programme in the next Parliament much bigger that the one implemented by the current Coalition. The defence budget, unlike overseas aid, is not ring-fenced for protection.

When Tom sent this to me he added this missive...More people are signing up for ISIS than they are for the British Army!

But this leads to a bigger question.

What happens when the country that says that it has a special relationship with us is no longer to "punch above its weight"?

They're buying F-35's but are having trouble maintaining the Typhoon fighters they already have in service...and speaking of the F-35...if they're having to cut their Army this much then how will they be able to sell the idea of buying the super expensive US jets while they kick people out of their Army?

We've seen the F-35 destroy the Air Force of the Netherlands...instead of 85 they're buying 35.  We know whats happening with the rest of our allies (and I'm still waiting to see how many the Italians buy).

Is it not time to kill this project before it totally eviscerates the defense forces of our allies?  Wouldn't it be better to sell affordable airplanes like the F-18 and Gripen so that they can still deploy ground forces to deal with issues that seem to pop up on an almost daily basis?