The MoD is to speed up job losses among its civilian staff in an effort to plug a shortfall in its budget.
Twenty-five thousand posts were to be shed by 2015 but that figure has now been increased by a further three thousand.
Meanwhile, the US Defence Department has taken the first big step towards reducing the army's size after a decade of war.
Outlining his department's spending plans, the Defence Secretary, Leon Panetta, said the army would shrink from some 570,000 to 490,000 soldiers, with heavy armoured units taking many of the cuts.
