imported>Rodw: Disambiguating links to Strategic Defence Review (link changed to Strategic Defence Review (1998)) using DisamAssist.

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Disambiguating links to Strategic Defence Review (link changed to Strategic Defence Review (1998)) using DisamAssist.

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{{Short description|United Kingdom defence review of 1994}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox book
| italic title = 
| name = Front Line First: The Defence Cost Study
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| author = [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]]
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| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
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| publisher = [[Office of Public Sector Information|Her Majesty's Stationery Office]] (HMSO)
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| pub_date = 13 October 1994
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| pages = 45
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| isbn = 978-0117728110
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| oclc = 633969002
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'''Front Line First: The Defence Cost Study''' was a UK programme of defence cuts announced on 14 July 1994 by then [[Secretary of State for Defence|Defence Secretary]] [[Malcolm Rifkind]]. Front Line First was announced four years after [[Options for Change]], which was a military draw-down as a result of the end of the [[Cold War]], often described as the "[[peace dividend]]". Critics such as the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] defence spokesman [[Donald Anderson, Baron Anderson of Swansea|Donald Anderson]] argued that the cuts were driven by the Treasury,<ref>{{cite news | first = Trevor | last = Mason | title = Defence cuts will not weaken fighting strength - Rifkind | work = Parliamentary News | publisher = The Press Association Ltd. | date = 1994-07-14 }}</ref> however Rifkind argued that the front line of the armed forces was not affected and it was support staff and assets which were being cut; Rifkind stated that one of the major conclusion of the study was that the "Ministry of Defence and other headquarters at all levels are too large, too top heavy and too bureaucratic."<ref name="speech">{{cite hansard|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199394/cmhansrd/1994-07-14/Debate-1.html|house=House of Commons|date=1994-07-14|column_start=1169|column_end=1176|chapter=|title=Front Line First}}</ref>

==Main changes==
*Closure of [[Rosyth Dockyard|Rosyth naval base]], retained as a Royal Naval Support Establishment.
*Reduction of MOD civil servants by 7% (7,100)
*Reduction of armed forces personnel by 5% (11,600)
**[[Royal Air Force]] - 7,500
**[[British Army]] - 2,200
**[[Royal Navy]] - 1,900
*These staff reductions included "more than 20 senior military and civilian jobs - that is Major-General level and above."<ref name="speech"/>
*Closure of 17 depots.
*Closure of 2 of the 3 military hospitals. Military wings to be set up at NHS hospitals.
*Army, Navy and Air Force headquarters to be merged into a Joint HQ at [[Northwood Headquarters|Northwood]].
*Base closures:
**[[RAF Scampton]]
**[[RAF Finningley]]
**[[RNAS Portland]]
**Royal Marines Music School, [[Deal, Kent]]
**[[RAF Laarbruch]], [[Germany]]

==New equipment orders==
*Confirmation of order for 259 [[Challenger 2|Challenger II]] tanks.
*Confirmation of upgrade of 142 [[Panavia Tornado variants|Tornado GR1s]] to GR4 standard.
*Confirmation of order for 7 ''Sandown''-class minehunters.
*Intent to spend £300 million on [[laser-guided bomb]]s and [[laser designator]]s.
*Intent to order 400,000 rounds of 51mm from [[British Aerospace]]'s [[Royal Ordnance]].
*A new class of nuclear submarine would be ordered, the Batch 2 ''Trafalgar'' class (what would become the {{sclass|Astute|submarine|1}}s).
*A new class of amphibious assault ships would be ordered (what would become the {{sclass|Albion|landing platform dock|1}}).
*Procurement of [[BGM-109 Tomahawk|Tomahawk]] [[cruise missile]] to be studied.

==See also==
*[[Options for Change]] (1990)
*[[Strategic Defence Review (1998)|Strategic Defence Review]] (1998)
*[[Delivering Security in a Changing World]] (2003)
*[[Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/RP94-101/RP94-101.pdf Report on parliament.uk website]

{{UK Defence Review}}

[[Category:British defence policymaking]]
[[Category:Government of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1994 in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1994 in politics]]
[[Category:1994 in military history]]
[[Category:United Kingdom defence procurement]]
[[Category:20th-century military history of the United Kingdom]]

Front Line First - Revision history

imported>Rodw: Disambiguating links to Strategic Defence Review (link changed to Strategic Defence Review (1998)) using DisamAssist.