General Sir Richard Barrons, a former commander of the UK’s Joint Forces Command said Britain’s armed forces used to be ready to go to war within four hours during the last Cold War but that decades of decline and savage cuts had destroyed this.
The nation forces have been so badly ravaged by cuts and a lack of investment it would need ‘five to 10 years’ notice from Putin to repel a Russian invasion, a top military chief has warned.
His review and warning came after Rishi Sunak vowed to pump in £5bn more into defence.
The ex-general said the Army had been hollowed out to such a degree it would struggle to defend the nation without urgent investment. He told DailyMail.
Gen Sir Richard warned Russia, although embroiled in its bloody war in Ukraine and haemorrhaging troops and equipment at a 1sensational rate, would soon rearm and could become an even more deadly threat to the West.
‘Russia is clearly angry and rearming so their capability will be restored and when the shooting stops in Ukraine, Russia will blame the outcome on us.’
‘We are already In confrontation with Russia. Right now, we have chosen to do very little about it.
‘During the Cold War the Army, at all times, was ready to fight at four hours’ notice. When the Cold War ended and there was no sense of existential risk to the UK, all of that was dismantled.
‘Now we would need five to 10 years’ notice of a Russian surprise attack to manage to deal with it. That’s not a cool place to be… It’s deeply disappointing,’ he said.
The difference in the sheer mass of forces between the UK and Russia is stark. Britain has about 137,000 military personnel, 227 tanks and 5,015 armoured vehicles.
While the Russians, despite heavy losses in Ukraine, have in the region of 1,350,000 troops, 12,420 tanks and more than 30,000 armoured vehicles prior to the invasion.
The Kremlin also has around 605 vessels in its navy compared to the UK’s 70 – which has two aircraft carriers and six destroyers among its fleet.
Last week the Government unveiled plans to spend an extra £5billion on defence over the next two years – which is a fraction of the £8billion to £11billion reportedly wanted by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
Rishi Sunak also pledged to lift defence spending from just over two per cent of national income to 2.5 per cent – but did not give a timeframe on when this would be achieved.
The commitment was welcomed by the Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, who said if the new target was reached within 10 years, it would equate to an extra £100billion.
