A new report says the British Army needs to start preparing for World War 3.
Entitled ‘Rebuild The Army Now – to Prepare, Prevent, Deter War’, the document was written by members of the New Bletchley Network, which includes retired British Army officer General Sir Richard Barrons and academic Professor Michael Clarke.
It said that Britain and its armed forces need to start preparing for a conflict immediately so it can deal with a war which some experts believe could start in the next few years.
The report gave a damning assessment of the UK’s armed forces. It said: “British Army credibility has been weakened by 20 plus years of hollowing out and diminished fighting power. Army morale is fragile.
“To be credible in deterrence terms we need to prepare genuinely for war and communicate this to potential foes, NATO and allies, and particularly to the British public.”
The report recommended that what Britain needed was a New Model Army, one that would be “ready to go to war” and be respected worldwide.
The report continued that the UK had to “signal to adversaries and potential adversaries” that it was “strong and want to get stronger whilst at the same time having no interest in attacking”.
One of the factors it stressed the most was military mass which they said had been allowed to shrink too far during peacetime.
The report said: “Our land forces and reserves could be said to have fallen far below national critical mass. This must be reversed and the relationship between size and technology must be better understood and articulated.”
In conclusion the report encouraged the UK’s leaders to be ready for war.
It explained: “We have to be bold and make difficult, sometimes unpopular, decisions if we are able to deliver credible fighting power within realistic budgets and to meet the time imperative.”
The devastating assessment of Britain’s armed forces comes weeks after Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the UK was “moving from a post-war to a pre-war world”.
In light of this, experts are warning that the UK needs to bolster its military and civilian infrastructure to cope with the impact of a war.
Furthermore, they have offered stark predictions on the impact of an initial strike.
Admiral Lord West put it bluntly: “We’re not set up for a long, prolonged war against heavy opposition.”
The hope is that as the possibility of a war becomes greater more money will be put towards defence in the military to close both the technology and personnel gap to other countries.
