British troops must be ready to go “toe-to-toe” with Russia, the head of the Armed Forces has warned. Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton said his focus is on building a military that “adversaries are scared of” and strong enough to deter enemies from starting a costly war.
Speaking at the RUSI think tank Land Warfare Conference in London on Wednesday, the Chief of the Defence Staff said: “The British Army can be very proud and confident in what it is doing. But an Army that is able to go toe-to-toe with Russia – like Ukraine’s – is necessary, but it’s not sufficient.” Outgoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has warned intelligence shows Russia could launch an attack on NATO “as soon as 2030”.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard said he needed an Army that could meet NATO’s demands, blending “high-end capabilities” with low-end “consumable and attritable systems” such as drones.
The chief said the Army’s “engine” needed to be “lubricated with enough money that drives the constant adaptation and transformation that we need in order to retain that operational edge”.
“Our job as Armed Forces is to avoid war because, in every way we might look at it, war is costly,” he said, explaining it is cheaper to build military capability now than risk conflict.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard added: “Our focus must be on building the Armed Forces that stop [war] starting.
“That means Armed Forces that our adversaries are scared of.
“In classic deterrence theory – that means Armed Forces that can demonstrably deny our adversaries the opportunity to achieve their aim.
“Armed Forces that can impose sufficient costs on the enemy to change its behaviour. Armed Forces that can deter, fight and win.”
His comment came amid continued uncertainty over the much-delayed Defence Investment Plan (DIP).
Mr Healey said the DIP was only due to provide £13.5billion extra investment in defence, far short of the £28billion over four years which officials had argued for.
He suggested the UK was on course to spend only 2.68% of gross domestic product (GDP) on core defence by 2030, putting doubt on the country’s ability to meet its NATO target of 3.5% by 2035.
His successor Dan Jarvis has said his priority is to get the DIP done “but not at any cost”.
The prime minister in waiting, Andy Burnham, is reportedly planning to boost defence spending.
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