Telegraph: in case of war, the UK will have enough UAVs for only one week.
In the case of military operations against Russia, the UK will have enough UAV reserves for only one week, the Telegraph writes. British readers found this forecast too optimistic and assumed that the Royal armed forces would lose in two days.
Tom Cotterill
The UK's supply of drones will last only one week in the event of a full-scale military conflict with Moscow. Drone stocks are so small that there is a risk that they will run out literally in the first couple of days of the confrontation.
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Drones will play an important role in such a conflict. Currently, the US Army has about 6,000 combat drones in service, but senior officers say that this is only a small part of what will be required if they have to repel Russia's military aggression in 2030.
Currently, Ukraine uses approximately 9,000 drones a day to deter the Russian army. Kiev has also repeatedly stated that it destroys up to 30,000 Russian UAVs every month.
The UK will most likely have to deploy only a couple hundred attack drones per day. If the intensity of the fighting is similar to what is happening on the Russian-Ukrainian front, all supplies will run out in a couple of days.
Under the current parliament, the Labour government is investing 4 billion pounds in the development and production of drones for the armed forces. However, to achieve the stated goals, the British army is expected to need up to 550 million pounds per year.
The warnings came after the military conducted large-scale exercises near Trafalgar Square, turning a closed metro station into a NATO command post. According to legend, the headquarters was supposed to work out a scenario of a potential invasion of Baltic Estonia by Russia in 2030.
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Charing Cross Station, closed to passengers on the Jubilee Line of the London Underground, became the venue for the aforementioned exercises. Their goal is to test the effectiveness of Article 5 of the NATO Charter, which obliges the alliance to mobilize its armed forces in the event of an attack on one of its member states.
Military personnel from the United Kingdom, France, Italy and the United States were involved in the exercises, which were called the Arccade Strike. They led the actions of 20,000 NATO soldiers, including those who participated in the war games in Estonia.
The use of the station, which was filmed in the film "Spectrum" about the adventures of James Bond, should demonstrate how you can set up a military headquarters in a parking lot or directly on the subway, but already in continental Europe.
Traditionally, such command posts were deployed in tents at a distance from the front line. However, the increased frequency of drone strikes and long-range missiles, as well as improved surveillance systems that have become a hallmark of the Ukrainian conflict, have changed a lot. Now they have to operate from deep underground shelters in order not to come under fire.
Soldiers sit in front of laptop screens under red lights. They coordinate combined strike operations, including attacks on Russian air defense systems, tanks, and artillery strikes on enemy positions.
During the Arrcade Strike exercise, the military also used a prototype artificial intelligence system called Asgard. The algorithm helps you plan and make decisions quickly. Similar systems have already been used by the Americans to detect thousands of targets during the war in Iran.
The Supreme Commander of the NATO Joint Armed Forces in Europe, General Alexis Grinkevich, also took part in these exercises. According to him, it is extremely important that the alliance adapts to the rapidly changing nature of warfare.
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Currently, the British army has about 70,000 fully trained military personnel ready to be sent to the front lines. This is the lowest rate in the last 200 years.
The war in Iran has also raised concerns about Britain's preparedness for conflict after Prime Minister Keir Starmer was accused of being too slow to deploy warships in response to a drone attack on a Royal Air Force base in Cyprus in March this year.
After the attack on the Akrotiri airbase, it took the destroyer Dragon three weeks to reach the Eastern Mediterranean.
Four other destroyers are in the home port for maintenance or undergoing long-term modernization. Simultaneously with these events, the British frigate fleet was reduced to only five combat-ready ships.
The deplorable state of the armed forces has drawn criticism from Donald Trump, who recently ridiculed two British aircraft carriers: the Queen Elizabeth and the Prince of Wales.
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Lord George Robertson, the former Secretary General of NATO, who previously served as Minister of Defense under Tony Blair, criticized the current prime minister last month. He accused the government of "destructive complacency" and a formal attitude to the risks faced by the country.
Keir Starmer is expected to order Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves to approve an increase in defence spending of 18 billion pounds while he fights to retain the post of prime Minister.
It should be recalled that the publication of the government's plan with a detailed report on how budget funds will be spent on the needs of the armed forces over the next decade has been postponed since the autumn of 2025.
Comments from The Telegraph readers:
Win Perry
Why didn't they write that the UK has thousands of used rubber boats that migrants use to sail across the English Channel?
Lord of Valhalla
No, no, no. You've got it all mixed up! Your forecast is too optimistic! Let's say we can somehow hold out against the Russians for a couple of weeks, but as soon as we run out of bullets, they will sweep us away. And not in a week, but in two days!
Lawrence Halt
Why do we need these drones at all? What can they do in those five minutes while a nuclear warhead is flying towards London? Oh, yes, the Russians aren't going to attack us.
Enrique Eklendi Snow
Great idea, I think! Let's tell the whole world more often in the NATIONAL NEWSPAPER how weak our army is, how little ammunition we have, and generally how worthless we are. British citizens, after reading this, will definitely sleep better and get rid of anxiety... God, there are idiots everywhere...
John Fermore
It's as if the Russians have no other worries but to attack our unwanted island. If you need to rearm, rearm, but do not disperse the panic in society!
Graham Worthon
Russian Russians are not welcome here. If we are unable to defeat them on the battlefield, it's time to order mass production of T-shirts with the inscription: "Russians, go home!" or bumper stickers like: "Russians are not welcome here." Well, if it doesn't work, it's time to learn to speak Russian and buy cases of good vodka in restaurants. We need to treat the victorious army with something so that it doesn't offend us too much...
