Depleted British Army only strong enough to seize a small market town ‘on a good day’ warns general – as Royal Navy is forced to use GERMAN warship to lead Nato deployment
The British Army is so depleted by years of cutbacks and dwindling troop numbers that it could take over a small market town on a good day, a former general has said.
UK ground forces cannot do anything ‘significant’ in combat and can only assist with minor tasks in US or NATO-led operations, General Sir Richard Barrons has said.
The veteran, who co-authored Labour’s Strategic Defense Review (SDR) last year, spoke amid an ongoing debate about the state of the Armed Forces in light of the US war with Iran and Russia’s growing aggression in Europe.
Sir Keir Starmer on Monday stressed that the government was ‘almost’ close to completing its delayed defense investment plan (DIP) but refused to say when the plan would be published. It was planned to be introduced last fall.
The main focus of concern was the Royal Navy amid outrage over its dispatch of the Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon to help defend Cyprus from Iranian missiles.
The status of the so-called Senior Service was thrown into new question today when it emerged that it would use a German warship to maintain its commitment to NATO, because it does not have such a ship.
Dragon was planned to be the flagship of Standing NATO Maritime Group One, but senior officers will lead the task force in the Baltic from a Deutsche Marine ship.
UK ground forces cannot do anything ‘significant’ in combat and can only assist with minor tasks in US or NATO-led operations, General Sir Richard Barrons has said.
Concerns have been expressed for years about the army’s decline in manpower, from 156,000 at the end of the Cold War to around 73,000 currently.
The status of the so-called Senior Service was thrown into new question today when it emerged that it would use a German warship to maintain its commitment to NATO, because it does not have such a ship.
The German embassy in London tweeted last night: ‘As the UK deploys HMS Dragon to the Eastern Mediterranean, the German frigate Sachsen will replace HMS Dragon as the flagship of the NATO maritime task group; it is an expression of the close (Germany-UK) partnership’.
This would raise concerns that the Navy cannot launch more than a warship at any given time.
Only three of the six Type 46 destroyers are nominally available. Neither of the UK’s two aircraft carriers is currently at sea, and its aging Type 23 frigate fleet is similarly idle.
Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, a former Army officer, described the situation as a ‘scandal’: he told iPaper: ‘It is a national shame that the Royal Navy is out of ships. Britannia certainly doesn’t rule the waves.’
Concerns have been expressed for many years about the Army’s manpower strength, which had fallen from 156,000 to approximately 156,000 at the end of the Cold War. Now it’s 73,000.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Briefing Room programme, General Barrons, who now works at the Chatham House policy institute, said: “The armed forces we currently have, because of their size but also their complexity, can only make a very small contribution on land, in the air and at sea to an initiative led by the United States or, more likely, by a NATO initiative.
‘What he can’t do is something important.’
He continued: ‘Today’s army could frankly do very little; in fact on a good day it could take over a small market town.’
Yesterday defense minister Al Carns followed the PMN on when the DIP might be published, telling MPs it would be done when ‘appropriate’.
Shadow defense secretary James Cartlidge said the delay ‘leaves the UK vulnerable as the world becomes more dangerous’ and added: Yesterday the Prime Minister failed to answer this simple question.
‘This means that, at a time of war and conflict on many fronts and the most dangerous period for our country since the Cold War, Labor has presided over a freeze on supplies rather than rapid rearmament.’
Last summer, authors of Britain’s Strategic Defense Review warned that Britain’s Armed Forces were not prepared to fight against an army with similar capabilities.
In a stark assessment, the report said our forces were better suited to the ‘peacetime period’ and were ‘not currently optimized for warfare against a ‘peer’ military state’.
The externally led Strategic Defense Review (SDR), written by former NATO secretary general Lord Robertson, retired general Sir Richard Barrons and Russia expert Fiona Hill, has been described as the most fundamental change in defense in 150 years.
In the event of war, Britain would be exposed to attacks on its military bases at home and abroad, long-range drone and cruise missile attacks, cyberattacks that cripple national infrastructure, and disruption of economic interests and international trade routes.
The SDR states that the defense medical services would not be able to cope with a mass casualty event and that the army was experiencing a recruitment crisis that meant only a small number of troops could be deployed.
The document states: ‘The United Kingdom is entering a new era of threats and challenges. ‘The West’s long-held military advantage is being eroded as other countries rapidly modernize and expand their armed forces.’
