Private contractors key to Army, says Defence Secretary

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

Yay, even more blatant private capital interest in the 'defence' industry, wooooooo!
I like the idea of the armed forces shrinking but very small silver-ish lining.

The British army will have to rely more on part-time reserves and private contractors, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond is expected to say later.
In a speech to military experts, he is due to say the future will involve "thinking innovatively about how combat service support is provided".
Under the Strategic Defence and Security Review the Army will shrink from 102,000 to 82,000 troops by 2020.
Mr Hammond says there will be "difficult" decisions ahead.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said the speech at the annual Land Warfare Conference in London will give some clues as to how this rebalancing will be achieved, ahead of a full announcement later this month.
Mr Hammond is expected to tell an audience at the Royal United Services Institute there will be a need to use "more systematically the skills available in the reserve and from our contractors".

(More at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18350358)

[bcbm]

mercenary companies pull in something like 100 billion dollars a year as it stands, mostly just through the conflicts in afghanistan and iraq right now. expect future wars to be even more dependent on mercenary forces

[Psy]

Mercenaries perform poorly in major wars especially in major wars of attrition, since what good is fighting for profit if odds are you are going to die as the enemy forces can also inflict heavy casualties.