Western allies must prepare for a war with Russia in the next 20 years, a top NATO military chief admitted.
Admiral Rob Bauer said Governments must begin to prepare civilian populations.
This, he admitted, included setting up processes to mobilise the population to fight in the event of a major war.
Admiral Bauer, speaking after a meeting of NATO military chiefs in Brussels on Thursday, said: “We have to realise it’s not a given that we are in peace. And that’s why we [Nato forces] are preparing for a conflict with Russia.
“But the discussion is much wider. It is also the industrial base and also the people that have to understand they play a role.”
Swedish military chiefs were accused of being alarmist by warning the population to prepare for a war.
But Admiral Bauer said: “It starts there. The realisation that not everything is plannable and not everything is going to be hunky dory in the next 20 years.”
Western allies are facing a desperate scramble to boost dwindling supplies of weapons and ammunition.
Stockpiles have been drained supporting Ukraine’s battle for freedom.
Russia has tripled its military expenditure to 40 per cent of the entire national budget, while drastically speeding-up manufacturing lines.
“We need to be readier across the whole spectrum,” Adml Bauer said. “You have to have a system in place to find more people if it comes to war, whether it does or not. Then you talk mobilisation, reservists or conscription.
“You need to be able to fall back on an industrial base that is able to produce weapons and ammunition fast enough to be able to continue a conflict if you are in it.”
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps announced that his government would send 20,000 troops to take part in the NATO military exercises — known as “Steadfast Defender” — with many deployed in eastern Europe from February to June.
The U.K. will also send advanced fighter jets and surveillance planes, plus warships and submarines.
