Land forces ‘not as strong as could be’
His comments came hours after Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the professional head of the armed forces, said Britain’s land forces were “not as strong as we could be”.
Both were speaking at the start of a major review of defence policy by the new Labour government, Sir Roly did not call for more troops or extra money, pushing back against a “big army” mindset.
Sir Roly did not call for more troops or extra money, pushing back against a “big army” mindset.
Instead, he said he wants fighting units to increase their “lethality” through better use of technology and smarter tactics, as has been demonstrated in Ukraine.
The ambition would be for a British brigade combat team of around 7,000 to be able to defeat a Russian combined arms army of approximately 21,000.
Much of the strategy depends upon getting cutting-edge software, including artificial intelligence, into the hands of frontline troops and improving the flow of data, both between units and with commanders.
‘Russia will want retribution’
Describing the potential threat in Europe, he said that however the Ukraine war ended, “I think Russia will emerge from it probably weaker objectively, or absolutely, but still very, very dangerous, and wanting some form of retribution for what we have done to help Ukraine.”
“By any measure, they have lost hundreds of thousands of casualties, and if they carry on as they are it’s going to take them five years just to take the Dombas.
“So that’s a hell of a price that they paid. And the lesson from history is that the Russians don’t forget, and they will come back to get their revenge.”
Speaking at the Royal United Services land warfare conference, Sir Roly added: “Each time you think Russia is down they come flying back.”
He said military chiefs should embrace the army’s status as “medium-sized”, and use it as a catalyst to modernise so that “any British land force will be able to destroy an enemy three times its size”.
The central strategy, he said, should be to improve the army’s fighting power to convince Nato’s enemies that they could not win a quick victory, thus deterring them from aggression.
“We have just enough time … to prepare, act, and assure the re-establishment of credible land forces to support a strategy of deterrence,” he said.
“We will sense twice as far, decide in half the time, and deliver effects over double the distance with half as many munitions.
“Our Ukrainian partners are beginning to do this with great results now, marrying cheap and expendable sensors and effectors to smart software that is coming from British coders.”