UK must be ready to fight war in three years, says army chief

Britain must be ready to fight a war in three years’ time, the new army chief has said.

General Sir Roland Walker has warned of a range of threats in what he called an “increasingly unstable” world.

But he said war was not inevitable and that the military had “just enough time” to prepare and avoid conflict.

Critical to achieving this goal is doubling the military’s fighting power by 2027 and tripling it by the end of the decade, he said.

In his first speech in the role on Tuesday, General Walker said the UK faces the danger of an “axis of upheaval”.

Among the key threats the UK faces in the coming years, the general highlighted in a briefing, is an enraged Russia, which may seek revenge on the West for its support for Ukraine, regardless of who wins the war.

He said: “It doesn’t matter how it ends. I think Russia will probably come out of this weaker objectively – or absolutely – but still very, very dangerous and wanting some form of retribution for what we did to help Ukraine.”

He also warned that China was intent on retaking Taiwan and that Iran was likely to pursue nuclear weapons.

He said the threats they pose could become particularly acute in the next three years and that, following the war in Ukraine, these countries have created a “mutual transactional relationship,” sharing weapons and technology.

But he said the path to war was not “inexorable” if the UK re-established credible land forces to support its war-avoiding deterrence strategy.

In his speech he made no direct appeal for additional funding or troops, describing his force of just over 70,000 regular soldiers as a “medium-sized army.”

But he urged the British Army to modernise rapidly, including by focusing on technologies such as artificial intelligence and firepower, rather than numbers.

Ultimately, his ambition is for the army to be able to destroy an enemy three times its size.

This would mean shooting faster and further, he said, aided by experience gained in the war in Ukraine.

The general’s speech comes a week after the government launched a radical defence review to “take a fresh look” at the challenges facing the armed forces.

Launching the review, Defence Secretary John Healey described the current state of the armed forces as “empty” and said that “wasteful procurement and slumped morale cannot continue”.

 

According to the latest Ministry of Defence (MoD) figures for April 2024, the UK’s regular armed forces (excluding Gurkhas and volunteers) number 75,325 members.

This figure has been declining in recent years as recruitment has failed to keep up. The previous Conservative government cut its staffing target from 82,000 to 72,500 by 2025.

Members of the NATO military alliance have pledged to spend at least 2 percent of GDP annually on defense by 2024, although several nations are unlikely to meet this goal.

The UK currently spends 2.3% of GDP on defence. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously said the defence review would set out a “roadmap” to increase this to 2.5%, but has yet to set a timeline for this commitment. [BBC]

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