Pak Sahafat – The head of the defense committee of the British Parliament described the situation of the country’s army as extremely dire in terms of ammunition and manpower and warned that only 148 tanks remained out of 900 tanks two decades ago.
According to Pak Sahafat News Agency, Tobias Ellwood explained in an interview with Sky news channel: You have three main elements for ground warfare, which include the tank, the armored fighting vehicle, and the reconnaissance vehicle. This is while, according to him, most of the British war machines are over 20 and sometimes 50 years old and have not been updated during this time.
Ellwood also described the size of the British army as small in terms of manpower and said: Our army is very small. We have adjusted 10,000 personnel. He described the current situation as unacceptable and expressed hope that Rishi Sunak’s government will reconsider the reduction of the military budget.
Sky news channel wrote on Sunday night in a report quoting defense sources of this country: a senior American general has privately told the British defense minister that the country’s army is no longer considered a high-level fighting force.
According to the findings, if there is a war, the British armed forces will run out of ammunition “within a few days”; The country does not have the ability to defend its skies against the missile and drone attacks that Ukraine is enduring, and it will take five to 10 years for the military to field a combat division of 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers with tank, artillery, and helicopter support.
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According to this report, about 30% of the British forces that are in high readiness are reservists who are not able to mobilize within the NATO time frame. Most of the British army’s armored vehicle fleet was built between 30 and 60 years ago, and a plan for their complete replacement has not yet been prepared.
Meanwhile, according to Sky News, European powers such as France and Germany have significantly increased their military budgets following the war in Ukraine. The European Union has also announced that Putin is at war with the West and NATO; but the British Prime Minister only wants to solve this problem and is not willing to increase the military budget.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in 2020 that he would increase the country’s defense spending by 16 billion pounds, the highest figure since the end of the Cold War. But British defense officials told Sky News that rampant inflation and the devaluation of the pound prevented the implementation of this plan.
In an interview with Sky News, Tobias Ellwood stated that the situation of the British army is “very worrying” despite the war in Ukraine.
Since the start of the Ukraine war, Britain has fueled tensions and conflicts by taking anti-Russian positions, sending military weapons and imposing sanctions against Russia. This country has recently announced its agreement to send advanced Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine. But the military officials of this country have warned that considering the existing conditions, the government’s decision will weaken the army and reduce its ability to confront Russia.
It should be noted that the war in Ukraine was triggered by the West’s inattention to Moscow’s security concerns and the expansion of NATO forces near the borders of Russia. The President of Russia has announced several times that he is ready to hold peace talks with Kiev. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, under the influence of Western belligerent officials, says that he is ready to negotiate when another president comes to power in Russia.