Despite promises to increase defense spending, Britain's military numbers have fallen to their lowest level since the Napoleonic Wars.
European generals and diplomats have raised concerns about the British army's downsizing and whether it is large enough to withstand a “high-intensity” conflict. The British government has said it will cut its army from 82,000 to 73,000 by 2025, the smallest since Napoleon. The current strength of the British Army is 73,190, as more soldiers are released than conscripted.
The Times writes about this.
Senior American generals have previously questioned Britain's status as a top-tier fighting force and warned that the country can no longer rely on the United States to plug gaps in its capabilities. Now several senior European figures have expressed fears that Britain's army will not be large enough to help fight Russia if conflict breaks out.
For example, the French army has more than 110,000 troops. Germany plans to increase the size of its armed forces to 203,000 troops. While Germany plans to send a brigade of more than 4,000 troops to Lithuania from 2027 as part of an enhanced NATO forward presence, the British military will keep the majority of its troops ready to deploy to Estonia rather than be physically present on the front line.< /p>
“There is concern about the British Army. We see that they are facing challenges related to human resources as well as equipment capabilities. The number of soldiers will be reduced in the coming months,” said one European general.
British defense spending fell from 2.47% of GDP in 2010 to 2.28% last year, although Rishi Sunak said the UK would spend 2.5% of GDP on defense by 2030. Conservatives have no plans to stop the reduction in the size of the army. And Labor pledged to reduce the size of the army by 2.5% only when economic conditions allow it.
A second European general said that despite promises to increase defense spending, “the British army is still in decline.” Both generals also stressed that the UK plays a key role in European defense through its nuclear deterrent.
Recall that earlier British Defense Minister Grant Shepps said that British drones delivered to Ukraine destroyed Russian equipment worth 1 billion pounds sterling (493,326,914,02.41 UAH).
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