Don't panic Captain Mainwaring! The British army has discovered that it may be asked to fight a war but unfortunately most of its kit has been sent to Ukraine! Successive British prime ministers have been giving Kiev vital supplies of ammunition and weapons and now the British army finds that it is firing blanks at a time of heightened tensions with Russia and Iran and war in the Middle East. Also, as I highlighted in this space last week, the British army has a severe recruitment problem.
Generals and colonels were quick to point out this week that conscription may have to return but they failed to say how these new recruits would be equipped. Broomsticks and carving knives? The question which should be asked is how the British army was allowed to get into this state in the first place The phrase “an aircraft carrier which has no aircraft” has been used many times to describe the Royal Navy’s flagship but now it is the case of the British army without guns.
Britain’s armoured vehicles were designed when conscription was last in place due to a failed procurement process. In fact, even Private Pike could drive them because they are so old. The army’s long range artillery has been gifted to Ukraine along with some of their Challenger tanks.
In fact, probably Britain’s biggest arms depot can be found in Ukraine. The top brass are busy complaining that they do not have enough soldiers when they should be concerned that they don’t have any weapons. If you listen to senior politicians and generals you get the impression that Britain is a military super power. The sad truth is that it would have problems raising a single armoured brigade (three battalions), because it has few tanks, outdated armoured vehicles, little long range artillery and a lack of soldiers. It is an absolute disgrace that this has been allowed to happen and those responsible should be thinking of a new career.
The British government and their generals, admirals and air marshals should produce armed forces which are properly equipped with kit that Britain can afford. It is no good having big ideas but not the muscle to match. Does Britain need to spend more on defence? Probably not, it has one of the biggest defence budgets in NATO, what it should be doing is spending the money more wisely on tried and tested kit and giving soldiers everything they need because they could soon be risking their necks in combat.