Defence cuts mean British military commanders will have to rely on private security firms to carry out future operations, a retired general has said.
Major General Graham Binns said the UK's Ministry of Defence appeared more "reticent" about using armed contractors to support missions than other countries and other Whitehall departments.
He called on the Government to introduce a system for selecting and vetting a number of approved private security companies, which would be required to train regularly with troops. Maj Gen Binns, who commanded coalition forces in southern Iraq from mid-2007 to early 2008, is chief executive of British private security company Aegis Defence Services.