WE will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of D Day next summer - the sort of military operation Whitehall believes we will never see again.

War is still the nightmare it always has been. That much has not changed. But technology today has made it somehow more detached, more impersonal ... and more media- friendly.

Precision weapons mean a miss is far less frequent while needless casualties are also reduced. It therefore stands to reason any modern military force requires fewer troops to be effective.

Special forces are unlikely to be touched by any cuts. They are much too valuable, particularly when accurate intelligence is so vital in the new world of blurred edges and confused alliances.

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon was also reported to have pledged he would not reduce under-strength infantry units such as the King's Own Scottish Borderers, based in Catterick, North Yorkshire, which is understood to be struggling with recruitment.

However, the money to pay for equipment, such as the Army's new medium-weight transport vehicle, has to come from somewhere.

Yesterday's announcement suggested, for once, armour would be no defence against the axe.

Tanks and heavy artillery still have a part to play, although recent history suggests they spend more time on the training grounds than in action. If that is the case, it would not be surprising if the Ministry of Defence decided it needed fewer of them.

Mr Hoon suggested that the Army's armoured brigades be reduced from three to two.

Fewer tanks and big guns would therefore seem inevitable and units such as Topcliffe's 40 Regiment, Royal Artillery, and Catterick's Queen's Royal Lancers would appear to have the most to fear.

Other options concerned the Tories in the House of Commons yesterday, Shadow Defence Secretary Nicholas Soames, suggesting the Government may hold back on new equipment, such as the RAF's new multi-role aircraft the Typhoon, which was due to arrive at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire to replace the Tornado F3 in 2007.

However, Mr Hoon seemed to indicate the Government may decide the plane's weapons systems are so accurate it will not need to buy so many of them.

A freeze on recruitment and a few less warships were other options Mr Soames said would concern the Opposition - although a recent trend mentioned by neither side was the increasing dependence on the Territorial Army.

Reservists from the North-East will miss Christmas with their families because they are serving with the Tyne Tees Regiment in Iraq.

Others from the region's Pioneer Squadrons supplemented regular troops in Basra in the summer.

Those who served did so because they saw it as their duty.

But would they feel the same if the call came again ... and again ... and again?