The Conservative chairman of the Commons Defence Select Committee has said the British Army is in “dire state” after Sky News revealed a US general privately told Defence Secretary Ben Wallace the UK’s Armed Forces are no longer regarded as a top-level fighting force.
Defence sources revealed the US general said this decline in war-fighting capability needed to be reversed faster than planned in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
They told Sky News’ defence and security editor Deborah Haynes this should include increasing the defence budget by at least £3bn a year and halting a plan to shrink the size of the army further.
Responding to the US general’s comments, defence committee chairman Tobias Ellwood said people should be “very concerned” about the Armed Forces’ current capabilities.
US criticism of UK military ‘will be music to Putin’s ears’ – Ukraine war latest
He called on the government to reverse “swathing cuts” to the army because its equipment has become “obsolete”.
Mr Ellwood said there had been “huge investments” into the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force in recent years, but added: “The army is in a dire state.”
US general warns British Army no longer top-level fighting force, defence sources reveal
Sending Ukraine tanks weakens UK forces, says Army’s top general
Troops training to drive ambulances as ministers hold emergency strike meetings
Is The Army Fighting Fit? Watch our special programme tonight at 7pm on Sky News
He continued: “Our army is simply too small, we have cut down by 10,000 troops.
“I do hope the defence review will look at these issues and reverse some of the swathing cuts that were made a couple of years ago.
“It is up to the Treasury and Number 10 to recognise the world is changing – we are now at war in Europe, we need to move to a war footing.
“We have become complacent. We need invest to make sure we retain people, the good people that are there, but there are not enough of them and the equipment is now obsolete.”
He pointed out that the UK’s armoured fleet of Challenge Twos, Warriors, and Scimitars, are all “over 20, 30 or 50 years old without any upgrades”.
“I’m pleased that voices are now coming through to say this is unacceptable,” Mr Ellwood said.
“We’ve whittled down our capability – we had 900 tanks a couple of decades [ago], we’re now going down to 148.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
The defence committee chairman added that a tilt to “cyber a space security” is necessary, “but that doesn’t mean you do it at a cost of your land forces”.
European powers like France and Germany have announced plans to boost defence spending significantly following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.
Mr Sunak has yet to make any meaningful pledge to expand his defence coffers, instead pursuing a “refresh” of a review of defence policy that is due to be published on 7 March ahead of a spring budget that will signal whether there is any new money for the military.
The crisis in defence has been a generation in the making following repeated reductions in the size of the three armed services since the end of the Cold War by successive Conservative, coalition and Labour governments to save money for peacetime priorities.
Read more:
Sending Ukraine tanks weakens UK forces, says Army’s top general
UK orders thousands of new anti-tank weapons in £229m deal
In addition, the need to supply Ukraine with much of the army’s remaining stocks of weapons and ammunition to help the Ukrainian military fight Russia has increased the pressure even further.
In 2020, Boris Johnson, as prime minister, increased defence spending by £16bn – the biggest uplift since the Cold War, but not enough to plug the gaps.
Mr Sunak has so far resisted calls to follow his predecessor, Liz Truss, to lift defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030 up from just over 2% at present.
