Will Britain have to fight Russia?

Britain must prepare “to fight in Europe once again”, the new head of the Army has warned.

General Sir Patrick Sanders, who took over as chief of the general staff last week, “issued a rallying cry to troops – telling them they need to be ready to face Russia on the battlefield”, said the BBC.

In an internal message, seen by the broadcaster, Sanders said the Ukraine war showed the need to “protect the UK and be ready to fight and win wars on land”. There is a “burning imperative to forge an Army capable of fighting alongside our allies and defeating Russia in battle”, he added.

Slashing troops

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February and the continued conflict has “changed the outlook and context for the Army, which faces cuts to the workforce in the coming years”, said the BBC.

The invasion “sparked a major push for increased defence spending” in the UK after last year’s Integrated Review “slashed troop numbers by 10,000, bringing the Army to the smallest size in its history, at 72,500”, said The Telegraph.

The Daily Express said there were now “serious questions” about how Britain would “actually fare in warfare”, as the country, “along with the US, France and other Western powers, has, over time, whittled down its defensive and, of course, attacking capabilities”.

The paper pointed to comments from Alex Vershinin, a retired US lieutenant colonel and war-gaming expert, who has warned that the West also lacks the necessary manufacturing capacity to produce the ammunition required for a conflict with Russia. “The winner in a prolonged war between two near-peer powers is still based on which side has the strongest industrial base,” he wrote in a commentary for the Royal United Services Institute last week.

Vershinin noted that in a “recent war game involving US, UK and French forces, UK forces exhausted national stockpiles of critical ammunition after eight days”.

Steeling for a long war

In The Sunday Times yesterday, Boris Johnson said that “we need to steel ourselves for a long war” in Ukraine. The West must ensure Kyiv has enough equipment, funding and training so Ukrainians can defend their country, he said. “In so doing, we and our allies will be protecting our own security as much as Ukraine’s.”

Article source: https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/defence/957125/will-britain-have-to-fight-russia