LONDON, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The professional head of Britain's three armed services will retire early, a leading figure in the new coalition government confirmed on Sunday, in a move which heralds significant long-term changes in military policy.
The new defense secretary, Dr Liam Fox, said that the services' professional head, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, had not been sacked, but he would be replaced early, leaving his post in the autumn some months earlier than his retirement in the spring of next year.
Stirrup, who began his military career as a jet fighter pilot, has been criticized for his handling of the war in Afghanistan, which has seen an expensive and bloody escalation over the past few years.
A lack of troops on the ground and helicopters to move them around dogged the early years of a major additional deployment of the British army in Helmand Province in Afghanistan from 2006 onwards.
Sir Bill Jeffrey, the top civil servant at the Ministry of Defence (MoD), will also leave his job in the autumn.
The British government is committed to a far-reaching Strategic Defense Review (SDR), which began at the beginning of this year.
Fox said in an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper, "We have to be able to maintain full stability and the full confidence of the people who work for us, not least because we're in a very dangerous armed conflict."
Fox added that Stirrup and Jeffrey would stay in post until the SDR was completed. "I've been discussing with them and other senior staff how we transition to the new structures," he said.
"We've talked about the best time to be replacing our senior staff, probably the end of the SDR in the autumn."
Stirrup had been the chief of the defense staff, professional head of the three armed services, since 2006. His term in office was extended by former prime minister Gordon Brown, in a move seen by many to stop the then head of the army, who had been critical of government policy and spending on the war in Afghanistan, from moving into the job.
The SDR will be a fundamental review of Britain's military forces, and will look closely at how military policy can reflect foreign policy. It will set the priorities of military spending for the next 10 to 15 years.
In the wake of the global financial crisis and with the new government committed to cutting the record public sector deficit of 156 billion pounds (about 250 billion U.S. dollars), military spending is an area where cuts are certain to be made.
Military spending for the current year is protected from any government cuts, but after April 2011 savage cuts are expected and the capabilities of the three military services are likely to change radically.
A public debate between the three service chiefs -- from the navy, the army and the air force -- has seen all of them attempting to present their service as essential to future defense and foreign policy.
But several expensive and prestigious programs are likely to be ended or radically changed.
Areas under review include new armored vehicles for the army, the air force's fast jet fleet, and the navy's two planned new aircraft carriers which are currently under construction.
However, the current format of Britain's strategic nuclear weapons force, which is based around a fleet of four nuclear-powered submarines, is likely to remain the same.
Dr Fox said in a TV interview on Sunday, "It may be the case that there are some functions we need less of and some we need more of, so it's very unlikely that any of the services will look exactly the same after the review.
"If you have a review, you don't simply say 'I am going to rule X, Y or Z out in advance'. The exception to that has been the nuclear deterrent because we believe the threat is so great that we can't drop the deterrent.
"I am not saying that I have got any pre-conceived idea about the size and shape of the forces. We can't surely be saying that we keep the shape and size of our armed forces exactly the same forever. We have to change in the light of the threats the country faces."
