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The Scots have a long and proud military tradition. Since we live in an insecure world, the SDA advocates that we continue to contribute to United Nations (UN) and NATO peacekeeping operations, with every overseas deployment requiring approval by a free vote in the Scottish parliament. We would support the Scottish Defence Force necessary to achieve this contribution by using the skills and resources of Scottish industries and shipbuilders.
The Scottish Defence Force (SDF) the SDA envisages would be of a comparable capability to those employed by Scandinavian countries, which are similar to Scotland in respect of population, topography and sea areas.
The Naval and Coastguard vessels for the SDF can be built in Scotland, and the equipment for the army, air defence, naval and coastguard units of the SDF can all be serviced and maintained in Scotland, providing job opportunities and creating wealth within our local communities.
Scottish taxpayers' money used to buy in foreign equipment for the SDF should, wherever practical, be spent only through contracts which provide offset deals to create jobs in Scotland.
The SDF in an Independent Scotland, based at home in Scotland, will support many thousands of additional jobs.
Read our Security and Defence discussion paper below.
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