The head of the Army has warned Britain has just three years to ready itself for direct conflict against Vladimir Putin and his allies.
In the gravest assessment by a serving commander of this country’s security issues, General Sir Roly Walker also warned the UK must prepare for World War Three if China invades its neighbour North Korea.
General Sir Roly, a former SAS commander, wants to double the Army’s fighting power by 2027 and triple it by 2030 by embracing technological advances, to meet the threat posed by the Kremlin and Beijing.
2027 is when Western military leaders believe Russia should have rearmed itself sufficiently, with the assistance of its cohorts, to mount another significant advance.
It is also the year China is expected to be ready to stage an offensive against Taiwan – a move which would almost certainly drag the UK into a global conflict.
Three years is ‘just enough time’ the general told the Land Warfare Conference in London, for Britain to boost its military capability.
He said: ‘In an increasingly volatile world we must restore credible hard power to underwrite deterrence.
General Sir Roly Walker (pictured) also warned the UK must prepare for World War Three if China invades its neighbour North Korea
2027 is when Western military leaders believe Russia should have rearmed itself sufficiently, with the assistance of its cohorts
A Russian military officer walks past the 9M729 land-based cruise missile on display in Kubinka outside Moscow, Russia
‘We need accelerate aspects of our modernisation. My vision is to deploy fifth-generation armed forces, advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and autonomous systems for precise battlefield impact.
‘I have a bold ambition to double the fighting power in three years and triple it by the end of the decade.
‘The need is urgent. We have got to pull the future of fighting power into the present faster than we thought we could.’
General Sir Roly, who was once blown up by the Taliban in Afghanistan, was addressing an audience of international military commanders and diplomats in central London.
His warning followed that of the Ukrainian ambassador to Britain, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who said the UK must prepare for ‘total war’ against Russia and its allies.
Despite the growing threat of direct conflict between this country and Russia, the Labour government has refused to provide a timetable for increases in defence expenditure.
There remains no indication when Sir Keir Starmer’s government will reach the benchmark figure of 2.5 per cent of GDP. The last Conservative government said it would achieve this mark by 2030.
Ukrainians attend a performance of the Kyiv Classic Orchestra ‘Kyiv-classic’ during a ‘Requiem for the Fallen’ event honoring the memory of those who died as a result of a missile strike on the ‘Okhmatdyt’ children’s hospital in Kyiv
Four portraits are displayed among the rubble of a destroyed building during a ‘Requiem for the Fallen’ event honoring the memory of those who died as a result of a missile strike on the ‘Okhmatdyt’ children’s hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine
By 2027 the conflict in Ukraine may have ended. But whatever the outcome General Sir Roly warned Russia would seek ‘some form of retribution’ against the UK for its involvement.
As NATO forces could find themselves outnumbered by the Russians on the battlefield, his aim is to do more with less and achieve technological supremacy,
He said: ‘We probably do have just enough time to prepare, react and reestablish credible land forces to support that strategy of deterrence. My remedy as I’ve said is to double-down on modernisation.
‘We have to think and do differently. We decide in half the time and deliver effect over double the distance with half as many munitions.
‘Our Ukrainian partners are beginning to do this with great results already, marrying cheap and expendable sensors to smart software that is coming from British coders.
‘We can double in three years with this hybrid system and then treble it when the new hybrid systems come online. Devastating destruction from ever increasing distance is the aim.’
Addressing the same conference yesterday, the head of the UK’s armed forces, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin conceded the Army was suffering from ‘historic under-investment’.
He said: ‘The military needs the humility to recognise we are not as strong as we could be and the focus to put this right.’
The conference also heard the Army intends to buy smart ammunition such as missiles with many warheads and drone swarms that can kill more fighters at the same time.
Senior Army figure are said to advocate scrapping the £12 billion Tempest fighter jet programme to use the money for its modernisation plan.
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