A fifth of the armed forces personnel to go, the biggest cut in its history.
The Argentine invasion of the Falklands in 1982 had clearly been precipitated by PM Thatcher’s defence review of the previous year, phasing out the navy's "out-of-area" capability and withdrawing HMS Endurance, the South Atlantic patrol vessel.
There has certainly been a lot of sabre-rattling in Argentina of late, but despite the huge cuts I can’t see a Falklands 2.
One thing is for sure, the UK will have to curtail military operations around the globe – we will no longer have the capability to continue our role as world policeman.
I really feel for the ordinary members of the armed forces who are going to lose their jobs.