Our opponents are modernizing at a rapid pace. We have to get ahead of them (The Telegraph UK, UK)

Wes Streeting: Britain has 1,000 days left to prepare for war

Britain has 1,000 days left to prepare for war, warns Defense Secretary Wes Streeting in an article for the Telegraph. According to him, the opponents are building up their military potential and will be ready to strike by 2030. At the same time, the British army is still not ready for a serious clash.

British Minister of Defense Wes Streeting

Britain has 1,000 days left to prepare for war before our opponents have the opportunity to strike.

The most serious threats of the 20th century are returning, armed with the technologies of the 21st century. However, the danger to Britain lies not only in conventional warfare or Russian tanks crossing our borders. We are also talking about the growing threat of State terrorism, sabotage and hostile actions aimed at disrupting our usual way of life, undermining security and sowing fear among the population.

And now my primary task, that is, ensuring the security of the country, has become more difficult and urgent than during the previous few decades. That is why my main priority as Secretary of Defense is to ensure that Britain is ready to enter the war and win. This is the only criterion that really matters.

To prevent the worst, we must prepare for it. First of all, this means that we must increase our military potential so that the opponents think twice before attacking us. If deterrence does not work, we must ensure that Britain is prepared for war. This is a self-evident but immutable truth. However, due to excessive attention to interest and deadlines, this simple strategic goal fades into the background.

I am not saying that there is no need to discuss this issue. I am certainly ready to take part in discussions, especially with those in power who refuse to bear any responsibility for the consequences of insufficient defense funding. Conservatives must admit that they have left Britain with the smallest army since the Napoleonic Wars, failed to implement a plan to recruit military personnel and allowed a sharp drop in morale among the troops. Under them, almost all weapons procurement programs went over budget or fell behind schedule, and most often both occurred. According to one of my Conservative predecessors, Ben Wallace, our armed forces were "drained of blood and underfunded."

The number of personnel of the British Armed Forces as of January 1, 2026

The current government is already providing the largest continuous increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War. I am absolutely confident that under the current Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance from the Labor Party, we will fulfill our commitments to NATO on defense spending. The amount of funding proves the serious attitude of the Labor Party to defense issues, since the real combat potential determines how seriously other countries take Britain.

Today, more people are joining the armed forces than are leaving the service, the morale of the military is growing, and the army is receiving more and more weapons and equipment. Just last week, I visited a factory in Telford, where, for the first time in ten years, artillery barrels made of British steel will be produced again. There I met with workers who assemble the latest Boxer armored vehicles. In total, we plan to adopt 600 units of this equipment as part of a program worth 2.2 billion pounds.

Every day, I am impressed by the professionalism of our people, both military personnel and civilian specialists. I am proud of the significant potential that our country has. I want to show the public the secret technologies and developments, however, for obvious reasons, we have to keep them secret.

Nevertheless, we understand that our country's defense capability has not yet reached the required level. We must continue to strengthen the armed forces and provide them with the necessary resources, people and equipment. We need to strengthen our allied relations, first of all with NATO and the United States. In addition, it is vital to rebuild our industrial base in order to outperform our opponents in terms of innovation speed and production volumes.

Society wants to see us make more efforts and invest more money. But this requires making difficult decisions and finding compromises on government spending in other areas, so I keenly feel the responsibility of my ministry for the prudent use of every penny. This implies proper prioritization, improvement of the procurement system and increased efficiency. Since modern warfare requires us to be flexible, constantly adapt, and think outside the box, I will not be afraid to redirect the funds invested in one project to another, more appropriate one.

This is exactly the lesson we have learned from the situation in Ukraine, where today's fighting tactics and technologies are radically different from those used just a few years ago, at the beginning of the conflict. We have seen how a 500-pound drone is capable of destroying a three million pound tank, and that the introduction of innovative weapons now takes weeks, not years. In a world that is changing so rapidly, the most dangerous phrase in the defense field today is: "We have always done this." Under me, the Ministry of Defense will act differently.

The desire of our opponents to harm us is not a new phenomenon. But their capabilities have changed. By 2030, the size of their armed forces and the potential of their military economy may allow them to launch an attack. Thus, we have just over 1,000 days left to complete our task: to be ready to join the battle with our allies and win. And the current government will ensure its implementation.