British Army would be destroyed in 'six months to a year' in major war, veterans minister warns
4 December 2024, 14:39 | Updated: 4 December 2024, 14:46
The entire British Army would be destroyed in "six months to a year" in a major war, a defence minister has said.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Al Carns, the veterans minister, who is also a reservist, issued the warning as he spoke of the importance of rebuilding the UK's reserve forces.
During a speech at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, Mr Carns said: "In a war of scale - not a limited intervention, but one similar to Ukraine - our army for example on the current casualty rates would be expended - as part of a broader multinational coalition - in six months to a year.”
He said the casualty rate suffered by Russian forces in Ukraine - killed and injured - is around 1,500 soldiers a day.
He said this ability to absorb such losses and keep fighting is part of Russia's plan and is why Britain needs to rebuild the depth of fighting forces it has available.
Mr Carns, a former full-time Royal Marine colonel before moving into politics this year, said Russia would soon be moving onto its third army in Ukraine.
"That doesn't mean we need a bigger army, but it does mean you need to generate depth and mass rapidly in the event of a crisis," Mr Carns said.
"The reserves are critical, absolutely central, to that process. Without them we cannot generate mass, we cannot meet the plethora of defence tasks."
The reserve forces have been underinvested in since limited funding was prioritised towards the full-time army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force following the cold war.
It means the reserves are undermanned, do not receive all the training they need and lack equipment, from body armour to weapons and fighting vehicles.
A push to revitalise the reserves would require a significant increase in investment and a new effort to engage with the wider public to highlight the importance of service.
"There is a requirement across government to remind people that freedom is not free," Mr Carns said.
He said he hoped a major review of defence - due to be published in the spring - would provide an opportunity to "write a new deal for our reserves".
"We need to catch up with NATO allies and place greater emphasis on reserves," Mr Carns said.
"We need to grow our active reserve - trained volunteers to respond at short notice."
He said it was also important to "understand where our strategic reserve is and indeed grow it".
