British people should prepare to fight in a potential ground war, the army’s most senior general has said. patrick sanders he said Wednesday.
The chief of staff said any conflict needs to be a “whole-of-nation business” and the people should be trained and equipped to be ready.
The general’s comments came after the Ministry of Defense announced last year that the total number of Britain’s professional armed forces would be cut from 82,000 to 73,000 by 2025.
“Taking preparedness measures to put society on a war footing when needed is not just desirable, it is essential,” Sanders said in a speech at the Armored Vehicles Conference in south-west London. Ta.
“Within the next three years, we should be able to speak with confidence about our 120,000-strong British Army, including our Reserves and Strategic Reserves.”
Mr Sanders, who will step down later this year, said Britain could not rely on its naval and air power, insisting: “We must be able to fight and win wars reliably on land.”
Britain’s allies were already doing so, he said.
“Our friends in Eastern Europe and Northern Europe feel the approach of the Russian threat more acutely and are already acting cautiously, laying the foundations for national mobilization,” he added.
“Ukraine brutally shows that regular forces start wars. Citizen forces win them.”
Last week, the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Adm. rob bauersaid that civilians in member states need to prepare for the possibility of a future war with Russia.
He added that if the conflict escalates in Europe, large numbers of civilians will have to be called up.
Earlier this month, the British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps Britain has said it wants to increase defense spending from 2.1% of GDP to 2.5% in the future.
In a speech last week, he said the world was “transitioning from a post-war world to a pre-war world.”
He said the UK needed to ensure its “entire defense ecosystem is ready” to protect the homeland.
Richard DannattHe, who served as chief of staff from 2006 to 2009, compared the current situation to the 1930s, when the “pathetic” state of the British military was unable to stop a Nazi invasion.
“There is a grave risk of history repeating itself,” he wrote in The Times last week, calling for Britain’s defense spending to reach 3.0% of gross domestic product (GDP).
“If our military is not strong enough to deter a future invasion from Moscow or Beijing, it will not be a small war to be fought, but a major war.”
