The UK must be ready for war in three years, the nation’s new army boss says.
Chief of the General Staff Sir Roly Walker warned of the “increasingly volatile” world amid an “axis of upheaval”.
He said Russia’s war with Ukraine could have a dangerous effect, regardless of the outcome.
“It doesn’t matter how it ends. I think Russia will emerge from it probably weaker objectively – or absolutely – but still very, very dangerous and wanting some form of retribution for what we have done to help Ukraine,” he said, the BBC reported.
Walker plans to double the Army’s “fighting power” by 2027 and triple it by the end of the decade, according to the BBC.
He also mentioned China’s desire to retake Taiwan, and said Iran is likely to pursue nuclear weapons, adding since the Ukraine invasion those nations had created a “mutual transactional relationship”, sharing weapons and technology.
“That is why you get to this point by… 2027-2028 this convergence may have reached some sort of mutual singularity and your ability to deal with them in isolation – a specific crisis that can be managed by the rules-based system – I think is significantly diminished,” he said.
“A problem in one area is likely to trigger a sympathetic detonation in another and therefore it is a global problem looked at from different perspectives around the world.”
He added the path to war was not “inexorable” but said the UK must re-establish land forces.
He also said the Army needs to embrace new technology including AI.
New Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to lift the nation’s defence spending by a small percentage.
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