1.   British defence expenditure was consistently high during this period.

2.   The British defence planners were similarly trying to divine the future.

3.   The British defence chiefs also felt able to work on the assumption that the USSR would not feel strong enough to risk war for several more years.

4.   He is also planning to study changes to the British defence structure.

5.   However, a British defence ministry spokesman in London denied the soldier had been targeted.

6.   In London, the British defence ministry said there was no hostile action involved.

7.   In London, the British defence ministry said an official announcement on a planned UN-mandated force for Afghanistan will probably be made at the start of next week.

8.   An agreement to this effect was signed Tuesday by visiting British defence minister Michael Portillo and his Polish counterpart Stanislaw Dobrzanski.

9.   Another British defence firm, Racal Electronics plc, has already signed a deal to supply the Chinese navy with six to eight Searchwater surveillance cameras.

10.   British defence contractors are also interested in selling new equipment, including naval corvettes, to South Africa.