June 6, 2009: Britain, faced with $3 billion in cost overruns in various defense related projects, is saving over $1.2 billion by cutting purchases and upgrades for several aerial reconnaissance and electronic eavesdropping systems uses to support British troops in Afghanistan. This includes Nimrod MRA3 surveillance aircraft (similar to the U.S. P-3s used for that purpose), E-3D AWACS, Reaper UAVs and electronic eavesdropping aircraft.

The British troops on the ground in Afghanistan are not happy with this decision.