The British army could be wiped out in just six months of war.

The warning was made by senior British Ministry of Defence official Alistair Carns on December 4 in a speech at a conference on military reserves at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London. According to Mr. Carns, a former Marine colonel, the level of casualties similar to the conflict in Ukraine would cause the British army to be destroyed within 6-12 months, Sky News reported.

British army could be wiped out after 6 months of conflict like in Ukraine

“In a war of similar scale to the one in Ukraine, not a limited intervention, our troops, as part of a broader multinational coalition, would be wiped out at current casualty rates in six months to a year,” the official said. Mr. Carns estimated that Russia was losing about 1,500 soldiers a day.

British Army Challenger 2 tank

PHOTO: UK MINISTRY OF DEFENSE

The Ministry of Defence's chief of staff and veterans affairs stressed that he did not mean Britain needed a bigger army, but "a need to create depth and expand rapidly in the event of a crisis".

As of October 1, the British army had 109,245 soldiers, including 25,814 volunteer reservists. "The reserves are very important, they are at the heart of that process. Without them, we cannot generate great power, we cannot meet countless defense missions," said Mr. Carns. The official also said that Britain needs to catch up with NATO allies in focusing more on reserves.

Commenting on the statement, a spokesman for the British Prime Minister's Office said that Defense Secretary John Healey had spoken about the state of the armed forces inherited from the previous administration, according to The Guardian.

"That's why the budget invests billions of pounds in defence, and why we are undertaking a strategic defence review to ensure we have the capability and investment we need to defend our country," the spokesman said.

Western weapons have quality but lack quantity.

Before the July election, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, then leader of the opposition Labour Party, accused the ruling Conservative Party of shrinking the army to its smallest size "since Napoleon".

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/quan-doi-anh-co-the-bi-quet-sach-chi-trong-6-thang-chien-tranh-185241205074425503.htm