i hope you all had a great ththanksgiving. britain's much anticipated defense review unveiled last week reversed the year of cuts its clostprompted ally, the u.s., to worry about the country's military capability. citing rising global threatsts, the prime ministeter's strategic defense and security review will increase new weapon spending by 12 billion pounds or $18 billion over the coming decade to o covr new antisubmarine js, upgradedd fighters, more j joint strike fighteters, and unmet airircrafd new patrorol vessels. the navy'y's key ballistic misse submarine program central to britain's nuclear deterrent would be delayed. the army will reorganize with eight of -- a deployed armored division and into tree battalions for trainin intelligence and cyber got a boost as well in foreign aid remains robust.

joining us is our european editor, andrew, who met one-on-one with prime minister cameron. a big question was whether the rereview would address the capability concerns. what did the prime minister tell you? andrew: i got the chance to sit down prime minister cameron for a few minutes just before the defense review and he was quite clear that the message from the review was that it was not shrinking from the world stage but remains engaged with global reach. you also asked him how the u.s. would respond to this. what did he tell you? andrew: he said he spoke to preston obama in turkey recently -- president obama in turkey the word was that obama was clearly delighted by the british choices. those who have e worried

about his military uld abilities particularly in the wake of the 2010 review that struck the aircraft carriers and other capabilities -- how does this review stand in contrast to what we saw five years ago? andrew: a sharp contrast to the review five years ago. this time, the reports have been well received. theof the key points is review reverses a decline in defense that's been going on here for years. vago: what is being docented calledised over -- lamented and praised in london and what's the criticize? praisednmented and london and what's being critice?

andrew: they have had a maritime patrol vesselince 2010 nonow. i's a big plus for the brits. of course, this commitment to 1 billion pounds with additional spending. vago: what is drawing some criticism over there? andrew: i think we will have to wait and see. the devil is usually in the detail when these reports are published and i haven't seen the details. thatf the early concerns was raised was the increasing cost of the nuclear misissile submarine program. billionting up from 25 31 billion.

they're concerned about the risk of this affair also including a $10 billion in contingency fund. the top civivilu servants a few weeks ago when asked by parliament what kept them awake at night they said the successor program was the thing. vago: one of the reasons it's been delayed is that in the u.s. come the british program was ahead of the u.s. and the u.s. it ofm is in a little flux. but let me ask you about civil servants. one of the ways the defense got a plus was cuts across government including a 30% cut to the ministry of defense civilians. is there concern the loss of that kind of talent may end up undermining british defense given that is been greate reliance on both contractors and civilians?

andrew: they had a 33% cut in 2010. that took numbers to around 56,000. there talking about another 30% on top of that. invaluableabsolutely job keeping the military on the move. so yes it's a big worry. this is something that will have to be handled with considerable care. vago: when of the shortcomings that has been expressed by u.s. military -- one of the shortcomings that has been expressed by the u.s. military readers is that it's too small in terms of the navy or ground force. review put to rest any of those concerns? andrew: the 700 extra personnel being allowed by the navy -- there's no increases in regular troop numbers for the army,

which will stand at 82,000. the big challenge is not so much in numbers but the skill shortages and engineers and technicians and other disciplines the british are experiencing at the moment. the defense staff said it was their biggest challenge and this is an issue that hasn't so far been addressed. royal air force the big winner in this? andrew: yes, i think it is. it has become a big problem for the british. the government seems to listen to that argument that they needed more combat jets so we f-35 -- an extra f 35.

and remember there is quite a lot going on he with regards to intelligence surveillance. they purchase as many as 20 protected unmanned aircraft's. we were talking about the whirl air force. what's talk now about the royal navy. sense the royal navy in a a loser in this reew? lastime, it lost its carriers and some surface ships. the plan was to rebuild that. walk us through what the impact of this review will be on the navy. andrew: it's not quite good ass an outcome we thought but some

people would say it's better. the fleetment has cut target from 13 ships down to eight. vago: and the type 26 was the highly sophisticated antisubmarine the world of the royal navyd -- the was building. andrew: there were also going to use it as a general-purpose submarine. so they are going to start a concept design study for a frigit, which -- will fill the gap. vago: they will also get offshore patrol vessels that they are essentially losing. andrew: part of the reason for because the delay to the

26 program to maintain the skills and capabilities. vago: the army isn't getting any bigger but its missions are changing. what does this review mean for the british army? andrew: the army hasn't done well as the other forces. there's some structural change going on here, notably the change of two brigades that will stand up in 2018. there is very little in it for new equipment. vago: as britain is focusing on more long-range capabilities. thank you very much. keep up the great work and we will see youhat here soon. coming up, the evolution of america's super carriers and why coming up, the evolution of america's super carriers and why the navy has been usin

somehow it felt like everything was moving in slow motion. if i didn't react, things could have gotten messy in a hurry. i mean jusgot that sweet ride with a great rate from navy federal. i was not about to let anything happen to her. just looking out for my wingman. he's still in training. open to the armed forces, the dod and eir families. navy federal credit union.

vago: for more than a decade,

debate has raised about the ture of aircraft carrierers and the ererick wright such operate- and the aircraft such operate from them. despite changing threats, the service has continued to buy short range air crafts, project critics to charge aircraft carriers are becoming expensive liabilities increasingly vulnerable to attack. jerry hendricks now with the center for new american security has studied the evolution of aircraft carriers and joins us to explain the future of u.s. naval aviation. welcome back. jerry: great to be here. vago: you track the evolutionf aircraft carriers all the way to the current day. talk to us about why americaca developed the super carrier in the wake of world war ii. jerry: in world war ii, we discovered we were coming with range of the japanese, cause the attacks -- japanese attacks. so the senator's grandfather

arrived at the idea we had to be able to step back and have longer range so we didn't actually buy superarriers until he placed more aircraft on them. we were operating 90 happen -- 90-100 planes. you needed a longer runway to take off, to land. we ended up moving towards the super carrier we had today with one that was about 1000 feet long to be able to launch and recover. vago: a lot of folks don't realizize the size of some of te aircraft's. the whale, the a3 being very large aircraft. why did the navy ships from that strategic focus that it invested decades into develop from nuclear strike to go to a more shortange missile. jerry: after the cold war, we thea program on record -- eight well -- which was supposed

to be the successor to the a six. but the 812 was a magnificent failure in cost overruns. when it failed, essentially there was his moment of pause and we made a decision that long-range strike would be something the air force would do but that we didn't need redundancy in that mission so we stepped away from it. begin to buyy hornets and super hornets, which were a shorter range but we were shortage so we were moving in closer to shore and launching these shorter range aircraft's in a more repeated fashion to make up for the longer legs. vago: super carriers ara symbol of american power and there were a lot ofountries investing heavily in capabilities to actually strike them. talk to was about the

vulnerabilities that are developing. jerry: the russians have been doing this for most of my lifetime. the backfire bombers with the as 's and these gigantic cruise missiles were something we dealt with in the cold war and those were meant to press us back from range. the chinese have gotten into the game a little later after the 1996 incident where we sent two carriers to the taiwan straits. they began to develop missiles 31, the anti-carrier missile which can range out to 900 nautical miles but it's not to press the carriers back beyond the rates which they can operate to hit land targets. this is in response to the u.s. success and power projection since the end ofhe c cold war. vago: what is the capability

that the u.s. carrier force needs to regain that strategic advantage and be able to project power? jerry: we need long-range strike. in the beginning, we recognized the payload capacity, strike for some characteristics. we need to have that strike, a capability back on the carrier deck that can operate from 1000 nautical miles or more. i would suggest around 1500 article miles. the whale of the cold war era could operate at 1800 nautical miles. it's something we have done before and can do again. the navy has been a family divided on the notionon of that long-range aircraft. it hasind of beea divided debate. some people said t to be a strie platform, some talking about an isr asset. why has this aircraft not been

able to proceed? jerry: they haven't made a decision about what the predominant characteristic of this platform will be. whether it will have an emphasis on taking capabilities or be unmanned combat aerial vehicle. -en they set the primitive when they set the mission, you can begin desiing around the. to come tohip has the table and that starts from the top and matriculate down through the navy's leadership and say this is the mission required and i think that missn right now is long-range strike. vago: how much range do you think it needs to have? jerry: you have to go back to the lessons we learned in world war ii. they are great lessons learned that came out of thatt and those are applicable today. vago: thank you very much for joining us we really appreciate it.

next, our holiday reading

vago: with the holiday shopping season former undederway, frank hoffman is here with his top military and history book picks. he is the king for himself and not for the national defense university. tell us what you have for us this year. frank: i have five books for you, two on the best seller list. i think they will appeal to your entire audience. forecasting" is about makingredictions in the future. all of us decisions upon which we think are forecasts. is a book about how to

become a better forecaster yourself. that's practices drawn from 10 years worth of study who have been ahead of the game all the time. vago: what are e keys they're talking about? frank: understanding y your own personal biases, thinking in terms of embracing uncertainty and the world is divided between knowns and unknowns, getting away your own that logic and using data and giving score so you can become better. teams." this is a book about how to use certain practices that are common in the military for becoming increasingly used in red teteams in the business word to test your plansns before you bring them out. he has a whole chapter on millennium challenges, one of

the violations of best practices. you should always try to use red teaming if you really want to test your own presumptions. peoplelennium challenge, were in love with the product. vago: tell us about that. frank: it was a large experiment trying to combine real-life exercises with gang simulation in a multinaonal exercise. i think the proponents believed in their products to march and they didn't really want them to be red team. d they punched a lot of holes in their concepts and couldn't handle it. vago: you have a little biased about the next book. frank: this is a product produced by a great group of scholars at the national defense university. books,hes upon the other our inability to judge and

predict the future that led to problems in iraq and afghanistan. get is an early attempt to strategic lessons from the washington level up to the president from those conflic. vago: why "lessons encountered"? frank: we're not sure if we have learned and change the behaviors that led to our problems. vago: mandatory reading. frank: yes and will be available. it's a brand-new book. boo: ian trall's new -- thise has done what is t the second book of a triloy on the u.s. navy and the pacific campaign and basically the battle of ththe philippine sea.

very interesting perspectctive. ts of indidual archival marial. a lot of perspectives om the japanese side. vago: for example? frank: insights fromm commanders of their own understanding of amamerican capability. you get a perspective of the change in the war. vago: and john me jim -- john meechum's book. frank: a nice, interesting feed from the last book. mr. bush was a world war ii veteran and served 42 some years . his presidency is not highly regarded now but i think this book is the first brick in the reassessment of the bush presidency. it is incredibly well written. vago: and interestingly, he too

was a naval aviator. frank: yes. vago: thank you for joining us. on this week's money minute feature, arsenal finance experts tell us the ideal investment strategy for a 50-year-old. >> doesn't matter if you're young, middle-aged, retire, it's never too late to retire. even if you di't put away the money you need for retirement, you still have enough options to build a nest. it depenends on the distance between you and your investment horizon. the shorter the horizon, the less risk you take. any investment strategy should include maximum contributions to a 401(k). for those in your family who may not have a workplace plan, opening an ira makes a lot of sense. some require you to start making withdrawals at age 70. investing later in life means well preparation -- preservation

will take the back burner. talking to a financial advisor who can help you form a custom portfolio is really the way to go. creating one on your own can invite more risk. last, having adequatate insuran is crucial. to be in the best position possible, review your insurance policies and get supplemental life insurance. getting a good gauge on complete financial picture will set you up for a happier retirement whenever that may be. vago: we will see you next week. if you have any financi

being detected was not an option. if i was recognized the whole operation was blown. the element of surprise was imperative. wow. he won't even recognize you. seriously. i don't even recognize myself. and thanks to my cashrewards credit card from navy federal with never-expiring rewards it's gonna be a killer honeymoon. woo! maui!! boom open to the armed forces, the dod and their families. navy federal credit union.

vago: lastly, david cameron unveiled the country's latest security or view being held as a major turning point. the st revw included cuts that demoralize the country's military and worried it's closest allies. cameron argues this will reinvigorate the capabilities of one of the world's most important powers andnd reassure alallies from threats grow. babel increa $18 billion for new aircraft and warips er

the coming decade. the army w will reorganize to improve rapid reaction capabilities. intelligence and cyber spendg will ris coveredcreases will be by cuts across government, including slashing one thi of civilians asobs are outsourced. defense can keep what it saves throrough efficiencies. critics want more detail and fear sweeping civilian cuts may damaging. u.k. leaders must recoize this ishe start of a very long effort to rebuild the country's capabilities but they deserve credit for the link a thoughtful strategy, setting an example other nations should follow thank you for watchching.

if you have any comments about th show or suguggestions for futu coverage, please e-mail me. i will be back next week at the sa time. until then, have a a great week. ♪

[music] >> dr. charles stanley: money can do some things; it can do many good things in the right hands. but it can't satisfy the longing of your soul. it can't satisfy the longing of your heart. it can't satisfy that which god has placed in you that only he can fill; and that is a personal relationship with god through his son, jesus. >> male announcer: next on "in touch," "is something missing in your life?" [music] ♪ folks are coming from far