CONFIDENTIAL COIFIDENTIAL Earmarking of RFA ENGADINE for assignment to CINCHAN. c. Earmarking of aircraft for SACLANT in the visual reconnaissance role. Occasional participation in naval exercises and also in the NATO Naval on-Call Force in the Mediterranean. e Reintroduction of Special Air Services Regiment reinforcement options in the Southern Region. The total cost to the UK of all five of these measures would be minimal, i.e. well under £1 million a year; this we would have to absorb within the approved totals. The political benefits are out of all proportion to the cost. 11. We should also endorse NATO's hope that compensation for our reductions would ultimately be forthcoming through increased cooperation within NATO by means of rationalisation, specialisation and standardisation; through furtner exploitation of cooperative equipment programmes in NATO; and through the reallocation of resources from overheads and support units to combat capabilities. 12. There are certain other measures which we could offer to NATO for detailed examination on the strict understanding that they could only be put into operation if they could be accomplished without significant peacetime cost for the United Kingdom. These measures would be: a. Provision of a further two Royal Marine Commandos for the Northern Region and Island Commands in the Atlantic. - 6 - CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL
