Video: Former US defence secretary Robert Gates voices concerns over UK military Robert Gates told the BBC that cuts in the number of military staff would limit the UK's global position. The Government is planning major cuts to the Armed Forces. The Army is being cut from 102,000 to 82,000 over a number of years, with the 20,000 posts expected to be gone by 2020. Navy numbers are expected to fall by 6,000, while the RAF will lose 5,000 staff. Mr Gates, who served under presidents Barack Obama and George Bush, told BBC Radio 4"s Today Programme that naval cuts were particularly damaging, noting that for the first time since the First World War Britain does not have an operational aircraft carrier. He said: "With the fairly substantial reductions in defence spending in Great Britain, what we're finding is that it won't have full spectrum capabilities and the ability to be a full partner as they have been in the past." This referred to the ability to fight on land, sea or in the air. Courtesy: BBC