“The most dangerous time in decades for the United Kingdom,” says the head of the British army
The Chief of Staff of the British Army, Richard Knighton, said on Friday to the BBC radio station that it is currently the “most dangerous period” in recent decades for the United Kingdom and that the country must prepare for potential “longer conflicts”, reports DPA and Reuters, quoted by Agerpres.
Knighton stressed that the risks and threats facing the UK are greater than at any time since the Cold War and the government must allocate funds for adequate defence.
He said Russia was “analyzing, challenging and testing” the UK's defences, including through “cyber attacks or attempts to smuggle technology and reckless sabotage and assassination attempts”.
In his opinion, Moscow is “definitely raising the stakes and risks crossing a line”, that's why “we need to spend more on defense and do it faster”.
British Defense Minister John Healey said on Monday that the long-awaited defense investment plan could be published before the NATO summit in early July.
Healey told MPs that Prime Minister Keir Starmer hopes to release details of the investment plan before the NATO meeting in Ankara, which starts on July 7.
Starmer: 'We are living in more dangerous and volatile times'
Starmer confirmed on Friday, during a visit to a drone factory, that the plan would be published before the NATO summit, after a period of close collaboration between government and military leaders.
“It is no exaggeration to say that we are living in more dangerous and volatile times than at any other time in my life,” Starmer said.
The defense investment plan, known as the “Dip”, was originally scheduled to be published last fall, but has been repeatedly delayed. It will establish a plan for how defense money is spent.
“This is the most dangerous time I've known in my professional life. And it's important that society and all of us recognize and understand that, and that might mean we have to make different choices and have different priorities,” Knighton pointed out.
“Accordingly, it is important that we increase the capacity and readiness of our armed forces alongside our allies to deter our adversaries from doing anything foolish. Over the past two decades we have prepared for shorter wars and for limited and small conflicts, but now we must prepare for potentially much larger and longer-lasting conflicts, as we have seen in Ukraine,” said the British Army Chief of Staff.
Knighton said drones and autonomous systems “will become increasingly important in the future of warfare” and are an area where the UK “needs to invest more and improve its capability”.
