Defense Secretary John Healy said today that now is the “most dangerous time“ for the UK in decades and the country must prepare for possible “protracted conflicts“, DPA reported, BTA reported.
On Monday, Healy said that the long-awaited defense investment plan could be published before the NATO summit early next month. He told members of the British parliament that Prime Minister Keir Starmer hoped to present details of the delayed plan before the alliance's summit in Ankara, Turkey, which begins on July 7.
Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton said Russia was "probing, challenging and testing" the UK's defences, including through "cyber attacks, attempts to smuggle technology, reckless sabotage and assassination attempts".
Healey added that Moscow was "definitely raising tensions and risking crossing the line".
"This is the most dangerous moment I have ever experienced in my professional life. It is important that society and all of us recognise and understand this, and that may mean we have to make different choices and set different priorities,” Knighton told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme today. The Defence Investment Plan, known as the DIP, was originally due to be published in the autumn of last year but has been repeatedly delayed. It sets out how to spend the money on defence. Healey also said that this was the most dangerous time he had ever seen. “And as a result it is important that we improve the capabilities and readiness of our armed forces, together with our allies, to deter our adversaries from doing anything stupid. Over the past two decades, we have been preparing for shorter wars and limited conflicts, and what we need to be prepared for now are potentially much larger and more prolonged conflicts, like the ones we are seeing in Ukraine.“
Knight said drones and autonomous systems “will become increasingly important for future wars“ and are an area where the UK needs to “invest more and improve (its) capabilities“.
Ministers have been repeatedly criticised for the delay in the defence investment plan, with the chairman of the parliamentary defence committee, Tan Desi, saying that the British armed forces and the defence industry “need to know where we stand and where we are going“.
A dispute between the Treasury and Defence ministries is believed to be behind the delay, DPA notes.