UK defence cuts: Gurkhas to take major hit

London, Sep. 1 (ANI): The Gurkhas are expected to be hit the hardest by a British defence ministry move to usher across the board cuts by 2015.

According to the Guardian, infantrymen from the historic Nepalese brigade making up most of those in the army, will be told that they have been selected for compulsory redundancy.

Gurkha soldiers will account for 140 of the enforced losses. No Gurkhas put in for voluntary redundancy, so the losses may prove to be especially provocative.

However, the defence ministry will argue that the disproportionate number of Gurkhas reflects the fact that the brigade is 800 over strength because its infantrymen now serve for longer.

The defence ministry aims to cut 17,000 posts by 2015. Almost 500 Royal Air Force personnel will be told today that they are to be forced out of their jobs when the Ministry of Defence sets out the first details of its controversial redundancy programme aimed at reshaping Britain's armed forces.

All three armed services announced redundancy programmes earlier this year after they were set an initial target of 17,000 job losses by 2015.

Now the army and the RAF will set out the first round of redundancies, with the Royal Navy following later this month.

The Guardian understands that 930 RAF staff will be told they have been selected for redundancy in the first wave. Of those, more than half - 490 - are compulsory redundancies. The other 440 redundancies will be voluntary.

The army will notify 920 people that they are being made redundant. It is believed that 660 people applied to leave, and 260 are compulsory job cuts. (ANI)