New face of warfare
SIR – Three letters (December 28) pointed out that Britain’s Armed Forces are no longer equipped to protect our shores.
However, the broadening nature of warfare does not necessarily demand protection of our shores in such conventional terms. Rather, it is the work performed by GCHQ, the security services and other facets of extended state or military bodies that offers real security.
Our active pursuit of the Cold War policy of “Maximum Deterrence” also helps to guarantee our shores from an invasion by a power such as Russia. This nuclear technology allows us a seat at the UN Security Council with allies such as the United States.
There is no doubt that the military has changed and it is unable to do the job it was designed to do. However, warfare has changed as well. We are pursuing the right policies of deploying small-scale strike and aid forces to ensure Britain plays its role in preventing future attack, and building relationships with other countries. Henry Dufosee
Warminster, Wiltshire
SIR – Getting rid of our nuclear weapons as Lord Bramall proposes (report, December 16) would be easy, but getting them back should we ever need them would be nigh impossible.
Quite apart from the difficulties arising from a loss of expertise and operational training, such a move could only ramp up tensions at a critical time, and our enemies would gleefully seize on the opportunity to cast us as the bad guys at the UN. Victor Launert
Matlock Bath, Derbyshire
SIR – The Army has spent more than £500,000 on brand consultants in an effort to address the problem of falling recruitment (report, telegraph. co.uk, December 24).
Perhaps not prosecuting returning soldiers would be a start. Anthony Hewitt
Hemingford Abbots, Huntingdonshire
SIR – On your Court and Social page on December 26, you list the names of 94 midshipmen who have passed out of the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.
We have only 19 ships at present, some undergoing refit. Where are these midshipmen going to serve in a seagoing capacity?
It is interesting that when you publish the young officers passing out of RMA Sandhurst at the Sovereign’s Parade, you always print the names of the schools they attended. A good proportion went to public school. I would bet that not more than 10 of those 94 midshipmen went to a public school. What has led to this difference of selection? Tim Melhuish
East Bergholt, Suffolk