U.K. Sets £160 Billion, 10-Year Defense Plan

Taking money away from a healthy program to pay for cost overruns on a broken one, only to leave both crippled, is a standard defense budgeting practice worldwide. The U.K. is hoping that a new financial reserve fund will break that habit. As part of the £160 billion ($253 billion) the U.K. plans to spend on defense equipment and services in the next decade, it is earmarking several billion pounds to deal with unforeseen circumstances. Of the total, slightly less than £152 billion has been allocated to specific budget lines, including more than £4 billion for the reserve. Another £8 billion is not allocated against specific accounts. The reserve is designed to give some flexibility to manage cost increases without affecting other projects ...