A senior American general warned recently Defense in the United Kingdom Minister Ben Wallace said that the British army was no longer considered among the top military in the world–According to a report issued on Sunday.
The source told Wallace that decades of cuts to Britain’s military defense have undermined the country’s fighting capabilities, Sky News reports.
FILE: Soldiers in action with the British Army demonstrate the latest and futuristic technology used in operations around the world at the Salisbury Plain Training Area on October 29, 2019, in Salisbury, England.
(Finbar Webster / Getty Images)
The source was quoted as saying: “Bottom line… it’s a whole service incapable of protecting the UK and our allies for a decade.”
Another reportedly said there was a greater sense of the need for the UK to revive its military in the wake of Russia’s ongoing military aggression. against Ukraine.
the Sky News report It provides details of the British Army to paint a picture of what the country faced. For example, the majority of its armored vehicles were built between 30 and 60 years ago and “full replacements are not due in years.”
The American general is said to have told Wallace that the British Army is not a “first-rate” fighting force like the United States, Russia, China or France, and is “barely” in the second tier.
FILE: British Army soldiers, from the Royal Welch Fusiliers Regiment and the Iraqi National Guard, reboard a Chinook helicopter in southern Iraq, during the first joint airborne Eagle inspection patrol.
(Marco Di Lauro / Getty Images)
The UK’s need to modernize its military comes even as the country has pledged to continue supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Earlier this month, the UK pledged to send in Ukrainian tanks after Kyiv again fell victim to missile strikes and as the ground war continued in Ukraine’s Donbass region.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he would send Ukraine Challenger 2 tanks along with additional artillery systems after a call on Saturday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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A US defense source was quoted as saying that “Sunak’s approach to war is currently to reduce the military and empty it further by giving [equipment to Ukraine] There are no plans to replace it [the weapons] for five to seven years.”
Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
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