So our mighty (dismantled) military could defeat Russia?
Extract from the third in a series of three articles on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, by Lieutenant-General Jonathon Riley, December 9, 2022
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Western defence industry shows no sign of re-tooling, expanding, or being given government orders. Nato nations should also, if they believe their own rhetoric, be increasing the size and capability of their forces. So far there has been talk from Germany and France but no more. Britain has proposed an increase in spending (unlikely now under Hunt’s austerity programme) but the increase is not tied to the sort of capabilities need – aircraft, ships, tanks, artillery.The talk is all of cyber and EW (electronic warfare).And yet our front-line tank strength is no more than 200, the IFV (infantry fighting vehicle)capability is about to disappear – on paper for a decade but in reality for ever – our artillery is antiquated and small in numbers, our air defence capability is almost zero.Ben Wallace, Secretary of State for Defence, recently described the British Army as funded enough only to ‘stay at home and do a bit of tootling around’
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[b]
Western defence industry shows no sign of re-tooling, expanding, or being given government orders. Nato nations should also, if they believe their own rhetoric, be increasing the size and capability of their forces. So far there has been talk from Germany and France but no more. Britain has proposed an increase in spending (unlikely now under Hunt’s austerity programme) but the increase is not tied to the sort of capabilities need – aircraft, ships, tanks, artillery.The talk is all of cyber and EW (electronic warfare).And yet our front-line tank strength is no more than 200, the IFV (infantry fighting vehicle)capability is about to disappear – on paper for a decade but in reality for ever – our artillery is antiquated and small in numbers, our air defence capability is almost zero.Ben Wallace, Secretary of State for Defence, recently described the British Army as funded enough only to ‘stay at home and do a bit of tootling around’
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