Britain should “train and equip” its “national army” for a potential ground war, the army chief has said.
However, Sir Patrick Saunders, the outgoing Chief of Staff (CGS), said it was still “not enough”, pointing out that allies in Eastern Europe and Northern Europe were “laying the foundations for national mobilization”.
In a speech Wednesday, military leaders said increasing the number of military personnel for potential conflict needs to be a “national undertaking.”
The comments, first reported by the Daily Telegraph, are being read as a warning that British men and women should be ready to be called into the armed forces if NATO goes to war with Russia.
This comes as Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said in a speech last week that the world is moving “from a post-war world to a pre-war world” and that Britain has “the entire defense ecosystem at the ready” to protect the homeland. This was in response to the statement that it was necessary to confirm the
Sir Patrick’s comments on Wednesday, during a speech at the International Armored Vehicles Conference in west London, are not the first time he has urged Britain’s military to be better prepared for conflict.
“This is our 1937 moment,” the army chief said in a speech in 2022, months after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, as preparations were being made for the start of World War II. He mentioned that the British Army should be in “. High level of preparedness.”
In a speech on Wednesday, Sir Patrick said Britain could not rely on naval and air power, insisting: “We must be able to fight and win wars reliably on land.”
“We need an Army that is designed to expand rapidly to enable the first tier, resource the second tier, and train and equip the citizen forces that will follow.” he said.
“We need to be able to be trusted to talk about a British Army of 120,000 people in our Reserves and Strategic Reserves within the next three years. But this is not enough.
“Our friends in Eastern and Northern Europe, who feel more acutely that the Russian threat is approaching, are already acting cautiously and laying the foundations for national mobilization.
“As the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee warned just last week, and as the Swedish government has done, preparations must be made to prepare for Sweden’s membership in NATO and enable us to put our societies in combat readiness when necessary. Taking action is now not only desirable, but essential.”
“We are not immune, and as pre-war generations we must prepare as well. It is a national effort.
“Ukraine brutally shows that regular armies start wars and militias win them.”
But Rishi Sunak’s government dismissed suggestions from British military commanders that the country could be called up for war with Russia.
Asked if Mr Sunak would agree to the potential move, the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said “no”.
Asked whether conscription would be excluded in line with the idea put forward by the chief official of public call-up to the armed forces, the spokesperson added:
“The government has no intention of following through with that.
“The British Army has a proud tradition of voluntarism.”
Asked if he believed the British military was strong enough to fight Russia, the Prime Minister added: “These kinds of hypothetical scenarios to talk about a conflict are not helpful.”
He refused to get drawn into the debate about “virtual war.”
Sir Patrick also called for more support for the Army, saying soldiers “obviously want equipment that can deliver lethal capabilities”.
He has been a vocal critic of cuts to troop numbers and military spending.
He will be replaced by General Sir Rory Walker in June, but the announcement comes after it was reported that he had been forced to be sacked following his outspoken comments.
Chief of the Defense Staff, Admiral Tony Radakin, denied the allegations when asked about the report by members of Congress in July.
Sir Patrick is not alone in warning against allowing the Army to shrink further.
Last week, a former chief of staff of the British Army said Britain risked a repeat of the 1930s unless it invested more in its armed forces.
General Dannatt said the Army is shrinking in size, from 102,000 in 2006 to 74,000 today, and remains “rapidly declining.”
He said there was a “grave risk of history repeating itself”, drawing parallels to the 1930s, when the “pathetic” state of the British military failed to stop Adolf Hitler.
Mr Shapps insists the army’s size will never fall below 73,000 under a Conservative government.
“We don’t expect it to go down to 50,000 people,” he told Sky News on Sunday.
“Actually, specifically 73,000 plus contingency funds.”
