It seems to me (I have also screamed my dislike at all the cuts in defence) that there has been (and is) a deliberate policy of weakening our defences so that, willy-nilly, we will be forced to join in with an EU army, air force and navy.
It was always nonsensical to scrap our aircraft carriers before replacements were due to be in service, but who listened to us 'right-wing nutcases'? The accountants and the politicians thought differently.