UK’s military not prepared for all-out war - MP
The British Army needs preparation for a large-scale war with Russia (photo: Getty Images)
Members of the UK Parliament have noted that military countries are insufficiently prepared to conduct a full-scale war. This increases the risk that the British Armed Forces will exhaust their capabilities after the initial few months of war, peer-to-peer, according to The Independent.
The report from the House of Commons Defence Committee highlights that British military forces will remain poorly prepared for a large-scale war. The government needs to address issues related to the shortage of reserves and the personnel recruitment crisis.
"The military is consistently overstretched, with the unrelenting pressure on personnel exacerbating the crisis in recruitment and retention which is seeing more people leaving the armed forces than joining," warns the committee.
According to a cross-party group of politicians, the pace of current operations means that ministers risk being unable to build true warfighting and strategic readiness. This could jeopardize the security of the UK.
Lawmakers warned that the efforts of the Ministry of Defence to address this issue are not being carried out at the required pace.
The committee’s inquiry heard that the hollowing out of the armed forces since 2010 had undermined the UK’s warfighting resilience and that their size reduction meant they would exhaust their capabilities after the first couple of months of the engagement in a peer-on-peer war.
It comes after defence secretary Grant Shapps warned that the world is moving from a post-war to a pre-war world and the UK must ensure its entire defence ecosystem is ready to defend its homeland.
In January, the head of the army General Sir Patrick Sanders said Britain must be prepared to form a citizen army of tens of thousands in the event of war with countries such as Russia. According to him, the country must lay the foundations for national mobilization.
In their new report, MPs urged ministers to ensure that the forces are not deprived of the resources, training and time needed to fight and win a high-intensity prolonged war.
Threat of a full-scale war between Russia and NATO
Earlier, the Chief of the General Sir Patrick Sanders stated that the British should be prepared to conduct a major war against an increasingly aggressive Russia if necessary.
Recently, the German Bild reported that the Bundeswehr is preparing for a hybrid Russian attack on the eastern flank of NATO. Bild published a scenario for German military exercises in which the German armed forces prepare for a hybrid attack by Russia on the eastern flank of NATO.
For more details on this, the military capabilities of Russia and NATO, and how the conflict may develop, read the exclusive article by RBC-Ukraine.
