The UK military must immediately replenish its heavily-diminished stockpiles in order to prevent an “inevitable” war with Russia, the country’s former army chief said.
Speaking on the Money Maze podcast, former Chief of the General Staff Patrick Sanders warned that Britain will risk going to war with Moscow in five years if it fails to grow its supply of lethal weapons now.
He also reiterated his stance to increase the number of soldiers in the British Army to make the country capable of deterring Russia in case of an armed conflict.
According to Sanders, Moscow’s goal of attaining a quick victory in Ukraine and China saying its army needs to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027 signal “a point of acute danger in around 2028 or so.”
“The best way to avoid that is by ensuring we are ready to fight, able to deter and prevent these conflicts from happening in this decade,” he stressed.
Sanders said he thinks the UK’s current ability to defend itself from missile attacks is “weak,” thus the need to immediately rearm its stockpiles.
Struggling Force?
The UK has pledged more than 7.6 billion pounds ($10 billion) in military aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.
Some lawmakers claimed that the donations significantly reduced the operational capability of the army, saying the service only has 157 mission-ready Challenger 2 tanks left.
The military has also been struggling with recruitment, with the UK Ministry of Defence reporting that more people quit the force than signed up last year.
“We need to ensure we can operate at scale,” Sanders stated. “That means regrowing our stockpiles, but it also means that the army … is capable of being grown rapidly.”
“All of that will take us between five and ten years.”
