Britain must be ready in three years to fight a war against an “axis of upheaval” as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea increasingly work together, warns the new head of the Army.
General Sir Roly Walker predicted that Russian President Vladimir Putin will emerge from his invasion of Ukraine “very, very dangerous” and “wanting retribution” against countries like the UK that supported Volodymyr Zelensky’s troops, whether Moscow wins or loses.
While stressing that conflict was not inevitable, the ex-SAS boss said: “We have just enough time to prepare.
“The point here is when you think they [the Russians] are down, they will come roaring back to get their vengeance.”
General Walker also cautioned about a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a desire by Iran to develop nuclear weapons and the threat posed by North Korea.
He said: “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.
“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.”
Gen Walker suggested there was an “urgent need” for the British Army to rebuild its ability to deter future wars with credible fighting power, having inherited the smallest for more than 300 years – with just 72,500 trained troops.
At the Land Warfare Conference in London, he added: “I am saying we are not on an inexorable path to war but what we do have is an absolute urgency to restore credible hard power in order to underwrite deterrence.”
Sir Keir Starmer’s administration has committed to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product, a measure of the size of the economy, but has not said when it will meet that ambition.
Opposition critics and former military chiefs have warned the decision cannot wait given the gravity of threats facing the UK.
