A former head of the British Army has warned the UK could face war with Russia within five years. General Sir Patrick Sanders, who stood down as Chief of the General Staff last summer, said Britain needs to prepare by building bunkers and investing in air defences.
Sir Patrick said he didn’t know how many more signals the Government needs for it to realise it needs to boost the country’s resilience. He said if Russia stopped fighting in Ukraine, a position would be reached where within a matter of months the Russians will have the capability to conduct a limited attack on a NATO member.
He told the Telegraph the UK would be responsible for supporting that NATO member, warning that could happen by 2030.
Under Article 5 of the NATO Treaty an armed attack against one or more of the alliance’s member states is considered an attack on them all.
Sir Patrick compared Britain’s preparedness for such an attack to that of Estonia, Poland and certain Nordic countries, which Sir Patrick said were “very alive” to the threat posed by Russia.
He said governments in those countries have instructed their populations on how to prepare for the consequences of an attack, including the building of bunkers.
The former army chief urged the Labour Government to increase funding for air defences and ensure backup systems are there if critical national infrastructure such as power stations and data centres are destroyed.
His warning comes after defence expert Fiona Hill said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine is a starting point for Russia to become a dominant military power in all of Europe.
She said Russia is already “menacing” Britain in a number of ways, including sabotage, poisonings, cyber attacks and assassinations.
Ms Hill told The Guardian “Russia is at war” with the UK and warned Britain could no longer rely on the US as it did during the Cold War.
The Government said in June that it would transform its approach to defence in the face of threats from Russia and other potential adversaries.
Defence Secretary John Healey has warned Europe faces mounting Russian aggression as well as new nuclear risks and cyberattacks. Russia’s embassy said in response that it poses no threat to the UK.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said Britain will boost its spending on security and defence to 5% of GDP by 2035.
It represents a significant jump from the current 2% NATO target and from the Government’s aim of spending 2.5% of GDP on defence from 2027 and 3% at some point after the next election.
The Government in June accepted plans put forward in a strategic defence review which included increasing Britain’s fleet of attack submarines, building six new munitions factories and procuring 7,000 long range weapons.
On the size of the Armed Forces, the review said numbers wouldn’t be reduced, but the size would grow when funding allowed. Britain’s Army is the smallest it has been since Napoleonic times – with 70,860 full-time, trained soldiers.
Sir Patrick warned: “At the moment, the British Army is too small to survive more than the first few months of an intensive engagement, and we’re going to need more.”
He said army reserves are too small and he was disappointed the strategic defence review didn’t consider this “at all”.