General Sir Patrick Sanders, Chief of the General Staff of the British Army, with troops in Estonia. Photo: Eddie Mulholland
The UK needs more troops and more defense spending, the army chief said, comparing the threat Russia faced to the escalation of World War II in the 1930s.
General Sir Patrick Sanders, Chief of the General Staff, said the UK could not «hide behind» the armies of its NATO allies and compared «obsolete» tanks to «Rotary phones in the iPhone era».
He said Britain «should never again be unprepared like our ancestors in the 1930s» and suggested that instability in Ukraine and Russia could be compared to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.
His comments are coming. ahead of the NATO summit in Lithuania next month, where Rishi Sunak will meet with Western allies to discuss their response to the crisis.
“For the success of the British deterrence, we need a reliable military force, balanced across all domains,” General Sir Patrick said at a conference at the Royal United Services Institute.
“Those who believe that our geography allows us to reduce to minimum investment in land, or that we can simply hide behind the armies of other NATO members, are simply wrong.”
Over the past decade, the number of regular soldiers in the British Army has decreased by 20 per cent from 97,000 and should be reduced to 73,000.
The reduction is «unbelievable»
Former military leaders said that the reduction is «unbelievable» and puts an influential Britain's position in NATO is under threat.
Speaking later at the same conference, Ben Wallace, Secretary of Defense, acknowledged the disappointment of the British Army leadership at the perceived unfairness of increasing investment in the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force.
He also told MPs that the military has been «neglected as far as Afghanistan and Iraq» but funding for the army has increased by a fifth since he took office in 2019.
Alluding to the ongoing dispute with the Ministry on defense investment, he added that Jeremy Hunt's stance on the issue is «a way in the right direction.» 2.5% of GDP for the armed forces, but did not set a specific time frame for achieving this figure.
Last year, the UK was one of nine NATO allies to meet its requirement to spend at least two percent annually on defense.
General Sir Patrick said he had warned that the West faced the same challenge as in 1937, a year after the Nazi remilitarization of the Rhineland, but the leaders of the alliance have hardened their position towards Russia over the past 12 months.
< p>“Unlike our predecessors, we are safer now,” he said. “NATO is stronger, Russia is temporarily weaker, and Ukrainian courage and self-sacrifice buys us time.
“However, urging ministers to go further, he added: “Time to modernize. Time to train yourself. It's time to make sure we're ready so we can deter.»
General Sir Patrick said more than £35bn will be invested over the next decade in new equipment to replace the tanks and armored personnel carriers that have been put into service. in the 1980s.
Rotary dial in the iPhone era
He said the machines, including the Challenger 2 tank, were «obsolete and unusable», adding: «These are rotary dial phones in the iPhone era.»
» The army is regaining momentum, but we have to admit that our procurement record has been poor and we have let our land-based industrial base wither,” he said.
“We must have the confidence to structure ourselves to achieve our primary goal of fighting and winning wars on land and to be of genuine service and credibility to NATO if required, while at the same time being able to act globally in support of the interests of the United Kingdom. «.
In an interview with The Telegraph last week, NATO's Deputy Commander said the UK is «just hanging on» to its influence in the alliance because its army is «too small».
< General Sir Tim Radford said that the UK has "a position of influence right in NATO" but that "if we don't invest, build our industrial base and manage properly, we may lose that position."
G- Mr. Wallace responded on Monday: “We are still one of the largest armed forces in Europe. All tiny compared to the United States and a budget of nearly a trillion dollars.
“We have a pretty big military, a pretty big budget of over £50bn, and we’re one of the few countries that can make expeditionary.”
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