UK must take more risks to ‘stay ahead of our enemies’ as Russian incursions in British waters soar, head of navy warns
Britain must take more risks to “stay ahead of our enemies” as Russian incursions into British waters accelerate, the head of the Royal Navy has warned.
Sightings of Russian ships have increased by a third in two years and Britain has had to respond dozens of times in the past year alone, First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins said in a speech in central London.
In response, he warned that the UK needed to not only invest in “technologies of the future” but also have a “whole mindset” change.
“If we want to stay ahead of our adversaries, that requires us to take more risks, ruthlessly eliminating unnecessary regulations and other barriers that hold us back, so we can shorten the time between testing new systems and launching them,” he said.
“From here, things will accelerate even more. The pace of technological change will never again be as slow as today,” he warned.
And he said recent events in the Middle East, where Donald Trump’s Iran war led to the blockage of the crucial Strait of Hormuz, made him realize that “the sea and our ability to control it are central to our well-being, resilience and survival.”
His call comes just weeks after former defense ministers and Labor dignitaries weighed in on a former NATO secretary-general who warned the UK’s security was “at risk” because of Sir Keir Starmer’s “corrosive indifference”.
Former Labor defense minister George Robertson, appointed by the Prime Minister to write the government’s Strategic Defense Review (SDR), also accused “non-military experts” at the Treasury of “vandalism” and claimed Sir Keir was unwilling to “make the necessary investment” in Britain’s defence.
The first sea lord also announced that the first navy-wide wargame to test the potential of his new “hybrid” approach was held last month.
Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute defense think tank, Gen Jenkins said: “Wargaming has provided clear evidence that our hybrid approach will deliver a significant increase in warfighting capability.
“Our hybrid navy has provided a significant increase in combat mass as measured by weapons and sensors, while also providing commanders with additional flexibility and tactical choice.
“Our missile capacity has tripled to the level required to win a contest in the North Atlantic.
“Across all our core missions, whether deterrence, carrier strike groups, amphibious assault groups or integrated air and missile defense, we have seen our readiness to respond significantly increased.”
He also said he was determined to leave the Royal Navy “much stronger than what I inherited”.
He said: “I am determined that when I depart in 2029 the Royal Navy will be a fleet much stronger than the one I inherited, fit for 21st century warfare.”
