The Chief of Defence Staff has said he cannot guarantee that two of the Armed Services will not be merged within the next 10 years.
Sir Jock Stirrup was speaking as the Government published a green paper that will pave the way for a full-scale strategic defence review after the General Election.
Presenting the report into military spending, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said the military will face some "tough choices" in the years ahead.
He said in future Britain's armed forces will have to co-operate more closely with international allies such as France to provide the full range of defence capabilities.
However, he said he does not think any of the armed services will merge but is "happy for people to discuss it".
The green paper does not refer to specific programmes - except to confirm the £20bn update of Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent will still go ahead.
Mr Ainsworth said the "likelihood" is the Royal Navy will still get two new aircraft carriers but he would not comment on the American-built Joint Strike Fighters intended to fly from them.
Funding for Afghanistan is to increase from £3.5bn this year to £5bn next year.
But Mr Ainsworth said in future the forces will not be able to "insure against every risk" and decisions will have to be taken on where the most important priorities lie.
"Tough choices will lie ahead and we need to rebalance our budget to better reflect our priorities," he said at the Ministry of Defence news conference.
While the green paper emphasises that the United States remains Britain's most important ally, it says the UK will in future have to look to co-operate more widely with other countries.
"In Europe, the return of France to Nato's integrated military structures offers an opportunity for even greater co-operation with a key partner across a range of defence activity," it said.
The paper identified the three main threats as terrorists such as al Qaida, hostile states and fragile or failing states.
It said that in future, the UK and its allies would not necessarily maintain the "technological edge" they had become accustomed to over the past 20 years as other nations closed the technology gap.
The paper also warned of the threat of "cyber attack", as the forces became more reliant on hi-tech capabilities.
Earlier this week there were claims Gordon Brown wanted to use the green paper to challenge the Conservatives to match Government spending on Defence.
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Sir Jock Stirrup was speaking as the Government published a green paper that will pave the way for a full-scale strategic defence review after the General Election.
Presenting the report into military spending, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said the military will face some "tough choices" in the years ahead.
He said in future Britain's armed forces will have to co-operate more closely with international allies such as France to provide the full range of defence capabilities.
However, he said he does not think any of the armed services will merge but is "happy for people to discuss it".
The green paper does not refer to specific programmes - except to confirm the £20bn update of Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent will still go ahead.
Mr Ainsworth said the "likelihood" is the Royal Navy will still get two new aircraft carriers but he would not comment on the American-built Joint Strike Fighters intended to fly from them.
Funding for Afghanistan is to increase from £3.5bn this year to £5bn next year.
But Mr Ainsworth said in future the forces will not be able to "insure against every risk" and decisions will have to be taken on where the most important priorities lie.
"Tough choices will lie ahead and we need to rebalance our budget to better reflect our priorities," he said at the Ministry of Defence news conference.
While the green paper emphasises that the United States remains Britain's most important ally, it says the UK will in future have to look to co-operate more widely with other countries.
"In Europe, the return of France to Nato's integrated military structures offers an opportunity for even greater co-operation with a key partner across a range of defence activity," it said.
The paper identified the three main threats as terrorists such as al Qaida, hostile states and fragile or failing states.
It said that in future, the UK and its allies would not necessarily maintain the "technological edge" they had become accustomed to over the past 20 years as other nations closed the technology gap.
The paper also warned of the threat of "cyber attack", as the forces became more reliant on hi-tech capabilities.
Earlier this week there were claims Gordon Brown wanted to use the green paper to challenge the Conservatives to match Government spending on Defence.
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