Where can defence cuts be made?
Former government minister Admiral Lord West looks ahead to the results of the strategic defence and security review and assesses what budget cuts could be made.
The coalition government has said the strategic defence and security review, which began after the election and which all three major parties backed before May, is due to report next month. The last review, in 1998, took more than a year.
The review is designed to look at the UK's role in the world, evolving threats to the country's interests, the nature of the UK's response to such threats and whether the armed forces are equipped to deal with future challenges.
Lord West told the BBC that "you really need forces with incredible flexibility".