THE most radical shake-up of the UK's armed forces for a generation will see the region lose a historic infantry regiment, it was announced yesterday.

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon announced sweeping reductions in frontline strike aircraft, warships, tanks and the infantry.

By 2008 the RAF will have lost 7,500 jobs and the Navy will be cut by 1,500 posts. In addition a further 10,000 civilian defence posts will be cut.

Announcing his plans for modernisation, Mr Hoon said the changes would mean a restructured armed forces, better trained and better equipped to deal with modern-day security challenges.

The major changes announced to MPs in the commons were:

* Royal Navy - 12 ships and vessels to go, including the destroyer HMS Newcastle and the anti-submarine vessel HMS Marlborough. The Navy will get two new aircraft carriers.

* Army - All 19 single-regiment battalions, including the Green Howards, from Richmond, North Yorkshire, and the Prince of Wales's Own regiment, from York, will be merged to create larger regional regiments. Four battalions will be axed altogether.

* Royal Air Force - Four aircraft squadrons, including the Tornado F3 squadron at RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire, will be lost. RAF Coltishall in Norfolk will close and RAF Boulmer in Northumberland is to merge with RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.

Reductions in heavy armour, including cuts in Challenger tanks and the AS9 battlefield gun, may also have a knock-on effect at Catterick, North Yorkshire, home to Europe's biggest army base.

Mr Hoon told MPs: "The threats to Britain's interests in the 21st Century are far more complex than was foreseen following the disintegration of the Soviet empire.

"That is why the defence white paper signalled that we should continue to modernise the structure of our armed forces, to embrace new technology, and to focus on the means by which our armed forces can work with other government agencies to meet the threat of terrorism and the forces of instability in the modern world."

The shake-up follows Chancellor Gordon Brown's announcement the Ministry of Defence would receive a 1.4 per cent increase in its budget over the next three years.

In return, however, he demanded £2.8bn in savings. Overall the budget for the armed forces is to rise by £3.7bn, from £29.7bn this year to £33.4bn by 2007-8.

The Ministry of Defence is believed to be keen to retain the famous names of regiments such as the Green Howards, something it achieved in previous amalgamations.

Mr Hoon pledged to "preserve the best aspects of the regimental system, but produce an organisation capable of adapting for the future".

He said: "The new structure will be based on regiments of two or more battalions, in largely fixed locations, allowing individuals to move easily between these battalions."

The Chief of Defence Staff, General Sir Michael Walker, said the changes were "effectively an enhancement of our overall defence capability".

Troops released as a result of the reduced security threat in Northern Ireland will be redistributed to bolster understrength units, including the Green Howards.

But General Walker acknowledged that reform of the regimental system - first mooted as long ago as 1990 - would mean the loss of some famous cap badges when the detailed changes are announced in the autumn. As a sop to regimental commanders, he suggested historic names could be preserved "in brackets" after the new name.

At the same time, the new emphasis on light and medium forces would see the scrapping of seven Challenger 2 tank squadrons - 84 tanks in all - and six AS 90 heavy artillery batteries by 2007.