General Sanders said the ground war would be a “whole-of-nation” undertaking and called for an increase in Army strength from 75,000 to 120,000 troops within the next three years.
“But this is not enough,” he said in a speech at the International Armored Vehicles Conference. “It is now not merely desirable, but essential, to take preparatory measures to put society on a war footing when necessary.”
His comments forced Downing Street to clarify that the government had no intention of introducing conscription.
Del Toro is not the first U.S. official to complain that defense spending from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies is insufficient. The United States has consistently urged alliance members to meet NATO’s spending target of 2% of GDP.
Mr Sunak has announced plans to increase Britain’s defense spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), but has not set a deadline for this target. Last year’s Spring Budget allocated an extra £5bn to the Ministry of Defence, on top of the four years of funding agreed for it in 2020.
In a white paper published by the government last year, ministers recognized that in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, “deterrence and defense have become increasingly important to keeping British people safe and our alliance strong.” Stated.
But the government faces persistent demands to reverse plans to reduce the total number of troops from 82,000 to 73,000 by 2025, the smallest since the Napoleonic era. Become. The Navy was forced to retire two frigates, the Westminster and the Argyle, due to a lack of sailors.
Defense Secretary Grant Shapps defended the cuts earlier this month, insisting that the extra money would be spent on new technology to boost the force’s firepower and pointing to the British military’s “very ‘can-do’ attitude”. ”.
The comments were criticized by former soldiers, including Lord Dunnett, who said: “At the end of the day, numbers matter.”
Mr. del Toro announced Thursday night that the United States and its allies may take direct military action against Iran following dozens of attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea by the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels. He said that it cannot be ruled out.
Britain has joined the United States in carrying out two airstrikes against Houthi targets, most recently on Monday night, but they have been unsuccessful in thwarting the attacks. Both Washington and London said they would not hesitate to attack again if the attacks continued.