LONDON, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The British defense secretary on Sunday said that he had balanced the country's military budget, the first time for many years.

Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said, "For a decade now the Ministry of Defense (MOD) has had a program of spending that far exceeds the money available."

"In the next few days we will be in a position to make the grand announcement that I've balanced the books Oakley Eyepatch 2 Sunglasses," Hammond added in an interview published in the Sunday Times newspaper.

The coalition government of Prime Minister David Cameron inherited record deficit government spending when it came to power in 2010.

The government made its primary task to reduce the public spending deficit, and introduced cuts across almost all departments, including military spending.

The military budget suffered less than other departments, but is still set for cuts of 7.8 percent up to 2015 from the 2010 spend of about 38 billion pounds.

All three arms of the British military have undergone cuts in equipment and capabilities, with much controversy surrounding the axing of Britain's fleet of three aircraft carriers, and the jet aircraft to fly off them.

This has left Britain with a 10-year gap until two 65,000 tonne carriers, currently under construction and the largest vessels yet built for the Royal Navy, are finished.

Last Thursday, Hammond made a U-turn in policy on the carriers, and ditched plans to convert them to conventional jet aircraft use.

Instead, Hammond opted to buy a less capable short-take-off and vertical (VSTOL) jet from the Americans, allowing the original carrier plans to be used and avoiding a potential overspend of 2 billion pounds (about 3.2 billion U.S. dollars).

Hammond said on Sunday that this was "the last big piece in the jigsaw" of his budget plans.

Hammond is expected to make an important announcement on military spending and manpower and equipment levels this week.

Experts believe that the announcement could include significant cuts in future army manpower wholesale oakley sunglasses, which were excluded from the government's major recasting of military strategy in the 2010 Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR) because the army was bearing the major part of fighting the war in Afghanistan.

Cameron has ordered that British combat troops withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, which could allow cuts in tanks, artillery, and infantry to be implemented. (1 pound = 1.6 U.S. dollars)