The RAF is involved in a Nato mission to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya The prime minister has criticised military chiefs who have spoken out in public about the UK’s role in Libya.
It comes after the RAF’s second-in-command said “huge” demands were being placed on equipment and personnel.
David Cameron said: “There are moments when I wake up and read the newspapers and think: ‘I tell you what, you do the fighting and I’ll do the talking’.”
He said military leaders were “absolutely clear” the mission could be kept going for as long as necessary.
“Time is on our side, not on Gaddafi’s side,” he said in a news conference.
Last week, the First Sea Lord, Sir Mark Stanhope, warned that continuing operations in Libya beyond September would mean taking ships away from other tasks.
And in briefing notes obtained by The Daily Telegraph and published on Tuesday, Air Chief Marshal Sir Simon Bryant, said morale among personnel was “fragile” and their fighting spirit was being threatened by being over-worked.
He said the service was being stretched by intense air operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
According to the briefing paper, ACM Bryant warned MPs in May that many areas of the RAF were “running hot”, while service personnel’s sense that the nation valued their efforts was being undermined by the government’s defence cuts.
ACM Bryant said: “The true strength is in our people in continuing to deliver, despite all that’s asked of them.
“Morale remains fragile. Although fighting spirit remains positive, this assessment will be challenged by individual harmony targets as Operation Ellamy [in Libya] endures [after September].”
He continued: “The impact of SDSR [strategic defence and security review] continues to undermine the sense of being valued. There is concern over the perceived lack of strategic direction which is restricting confidence in the senior leadership.”
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