David Cameron has defended plans to make 11,000 people in the Armed Forces redundant - possibly including some troops on the front line in Afghanistan.

David Cameron has defended plans to make 11,000 people in the Armed Forces redundant - possibly including some troops on the front line in Afghanistan.

The proposals come as the UK examines what military assets it can use to deal with the crisis in Libya.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Afghan president Hamid Karzai, Mr Cameron conceded axing thousands of military jobs would be "difficult" for those affected.

But the Prime Minister insisted the losses were necessary to "modernise and update" Britain's armed forces for future challenges.

Around 5,000 personnel are set to be axed from the Army, as well as 3,300 from the Navy and 2,700 from the RAF.

Last autumn's Strategic Defence and Security Review set out plans for reducing the size of the army by 7,000, and the Navy and RAF by 5,000 respectively - a total of 17,000.

Some of that number will be met by not replacing people who retire or leave for other reasons.


Ministry of Defence

But defence officials revealed 11,000 personnel still face being made redundant on a compulsory or voluntary basis.

Sky News has learned the process by which the redundancies will be made, although the specific numbers and units to be cut are yet to be revealed.

The redundancy scheme is compulsory but with a small 'c': those people who want to leave the Armed Forces can volunteer to do so.

They will be allowed to take redundancy unless they have skills the military needs to retain.

There may be some personnel who do not want to leave but whose skills are deemed no longer necessary, and they will be forced to take redundancy.

There will be several redundancy rounds, the first in September.


    We are constructing the right Royal Air Force, the right size, that's sufficient and lean in order to actually deliver the capability in the future.


Air Vice Marshal Mark Green


Personnel in the RAF are being told about this process, but no one will be made redundant until September.

The Navy and Army will announce further details on April 4, but some aspects will apply to all service personnel.

Those who seek redundancy and who are successful will serve a notice period of six months and receive a tax-free payout dependent on their rank and length of service.

Those who did not volunteer but are forced to leave will also receive a tax-free payout dependent on their rank and length of service, but will be permitted to work a 12-month notice period.

Anyone preparing to deploy, on deployment or who has just returned from deployment will not be eligible for redundancy unless they volunteer for it.

In practice it could mean that a soldier who has returned from service in Afghanistan in September could be made redundant a month later.


David Cameron

The PM says the cuts will "modernise and update" Britain's forces


In a separate but related announcement, RAF commanders said two of the UK's seven Tornado fighter jet squadrons are to be disbanded.

XIII Squadron, based at RAF Marham and 14 Squadron, based at RAF Lossiemouth will go on June 1 this year.

An RAF spokesman said: "The disbandment... does not mean that their personnel will automatically be made redundant."

The spokesman would not comment on whether the closures will result in some aircraft being scrapped.

The announcement means the UK will retain five frontline Tornado squadrons with a total fleet of 136 GR4 aircraft.

Air Vice Marshal Mark Green was asked how the redundancies and disbandments just announced square with the UK considerations to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.

He told Sky News: "We are constructing the right Royal Air Force, the right size, that's sufficient and lean in order to actually deliver the capability in the future.

"An agile and flexible air force is what we require."