Briefings : CVF, Russia, UCAV

Work has begun on the new Royal Navy carriers at Portsmouth. There is still a cloud over the CVF though with speculation the Tories could cancel them if they win power in this year's election. Mind you the way things are going in the polls a Tory election win is looking less likely by the day.

The head of the British Army has said British troops could be out of Afghanistan within 5 years. Numbers could start to fall from as early as next year.

Russians have found dozens of T-80s seemingly abandoned in forests in the Urals but the Russian Army says there was nothing unusual about it, saying placing a guard next to each one would be impossible.

Two new versions of the Predator UCAV are in the works following live fire tests of Hellfire missiles and over water test flights. The MQ-1C is being fast tracked into service with the US Army as a long endurance multi-purpose aerial vehicle. A prototype marine Predator is also being developed for the Customs and Border Protection Service.