The crisis in defence has been a generation in the making following repeated reductions in the size of the three armed services since the end of the Cold War by successive Conservative, coalition and Labour governments to save money for peacetime priorities.Ĭompounding the impact of the cuts is a chronic failure by the Ministry of Defence and the army over the past 20 years to procure some of its most needed equipment - such as armoured vehicles and new communication systems - despite spending billions of pounds. Image: A degradation in fighting-power has long been a concern "As long as they don't screw up the procurement, they're on track to be a modern army."īut other sources were less confident about how the UK was being viewed by its allies. "It's now in a better cycle with a lot of new investment over the next ten years", the source said. One of the sources insisted that the US and the rest of NATO understands the UK is planning to rebuild its force. Tier two would describe a more middling power with less fighting capability such as Germany or Italy.Īccording to the sources, the general, referring to the army, said: "You haven't got a tier one. The general used a term to rank the strength of a country's military, with tier one regarded as a top-level power such as the United States, Russia, China and France and a status the UK also seeks to hold. Such concerns are not just being expressed by individuals inside UK defence circles, with sources saying a high-ranking US general offered a frank assessment of the British Army to Mr Wallace and some other senior officials last autumn. Plans exist to modernise the service with fighting vehicles, missiles and upgraded tanks but they were devised before Russia launched its war and the timeline to deliver the transformation is too slow to meet the heightened risk, according to the defence sources. While the picture is bleak across the military, the army is in a particularly bad place. Image: Rishi Sunak has yet to make any meaningful pledge to increase defence cash Mr Sunak has yet to make any meaningful pledge to expand his defence coffers, instead pursuing a "refresh" of a review of defence policy that is due to be published on 7 March ahead of a spring budget that will signal whether there is any new money for the military. UK orders thousands of new anti-tank weapons in £229m deal Sending Ukraine tanks weakens UK forces, says Army's top general The European Union has even said President Putin is now at war with the West and NATO.īut the UK's chancellor-turned-prime minister just wants the problem "to go away", a second source claimed. The majority of the army's fleet of armoured vehicles, including tanks, was built between 30 to 60 years ago and full replacements are not due for yearsĮuropean powers like France and Germany have announced plans to boost defence spending significantly following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.Some 30% of UK forces on high readiness are reservists who are unable to mobilise within NATO timelines - "so we'd turn up under strength".It would take five to 10 years for the army to be able to field a war-fighting division of some 25,000 to 30,000 troops backed by tanks, artillery and helicopters.The UK lacks the ability to defend its skies against the level of missile and drone strikes that Ukraine is enduring.The armed forces would run out of ammunition "in a few days" if called upon to fight.
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