Senior British officer to the Financial Times: Our forces are not ready for any armed conflict
The former director of a department of the Ministry of Defense in the United Kingdom, Rob Johnson, announced that the British armed forces won’t be able to protect the entire territory of the country.
Johnson’s remarks came during an interview with the Financial Times, during which he said, “In any large-scale operation, our ammunition will run out quickly, our defenses are very weak, and we are not ready to fight and win in any armed conflict of any size”.
According to Johnson, the British armed forces operate on an absolute minimum basis, which allows them to carry out peacekeeping and humanitarian operations only, as well as evacuate civilians from combat zones and some counter-sabotage measures, adding that the UK has reached a situation where it cannot adequately defend its homeland.
Johnson also explained that British air defenses are insufficient to stop long-range missiles, as the Royal Navy lacks ships to patrol the North Atlantic to track and deter Russian submarine activity, and the Royal Air Force needs almost twice as many current fighter jets.
Johnson went on to say that if an intervention force similar to those deployed in the Falkland Islands or conflicts in Iraq were created, British forces would be ill-equipped, putting the military at risk.
Johnson warned that more investment is needed in the British military, especially to counter the threat coming from Russia, and the country’s next government should aim for defense spending of at least 3% of GDP, or about £80 billion (more than $100 billion) a year, stressing that the move would allow Britain to modernize its nuclear deterrence capabilities and have an army armed and equipped for the conflicts of the twenty-first century.
