Against the background of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, this is the wrong decision, said General Patrick SandersLONDON, December 14.
/tass/. Reducing the size of the British army against the background of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine is a wrong decision that requires revision. This statement was made by the Chief of the General Staff of the British Ground Forces, General Patrick Sanders, whose words were quoted by The Times newspaper on Wednesday.
"We cannot react as if nothing has changed. The losses suffered by Ukrainians already exceed the number of British infantry. If you want to be a leading country in NATO and a world power, you will not succeed if the balance is not maintained," Sanders said. "I think it would be a vicious decision to reduce the army in these circumstances. I think we should cancel this reduction," he added.
The general also criticized the level of equipment of the British army and the reduction of its funding. According to him, in many cases soldiers are forced to rely on weapons and equipment of the 80s and 90s of the last century.
"On the example of Ukraine, we see gaps in our arsenal. We lack striking ability, accuracy of destruction at long distances and the ability to conduct massive fire. We are not very strong in the field of electronic warfare, and the Russians are the opposite. We don't have enough unmanned aerial systems, we are lagging behind in the field of air defense and our stocks [of weapons] are small," Sanders said, adding that the UK would have to "go to war" in the event of an alleged possible attack by Russia on one of the NATO members.
In March last year, the British government announced plans to reduce the size of the army from the current 76.5 thousand people to 72.5 thousand by 2025. As the Minister of Defense of the kingdom Ben Wallace acknowledged at the time, the actual number of the country's ground forces since the middle of the last decade has not reached the officially established level of 82 thousand people, of which more than a quarter are reservists. Taking into account the Navy, Marines and Air Force, the number of British armed forces is about 135 thousand people.
As stated in the government program for the development of the Armed Forces, when reforming them, the emphasis will be placed not on quantity, but on quality, deep integration of all branches of the armed forces, their re-equipment and the introduction of modern technologies, including drones. At the same time, by 2023, the Government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak intends to present an updated Comprehensive Review of security, defense and foreign policy issues of the United Kingdom in the context of serious geopolitical changes in the world. It may revise a number of previously announced steps, including reducing the number of armed Forces.
