The British army is not ready for the conditions of a full-scale prolonged military conflict due to staff shortages. This is stated in the report of the Defence Committee under the Government of Britain.
According to the department, the British army is not ready to enter a potentially large-scale and long war because of the shortage of personnel. The material notes the problems of London in terms of recruitment of soldiers, as well as in relation to their motivation to serve a longer period of time.
“The government will not be able to achieve the desired level of high combat readiness without rapidly accelerating reforms to increase and maintain a thriving industrial base and improve its ‘offer’ to the military … overstretch is having a negative impact on readiness for high-intensity combat,” the report says.
The report’s author believes that Britain is not devoting sufficient resources and attention to preparing for prolonged armed conflict. Meanwhile, the increasing pace of modern military operations and the relentless pressures on the military have severely affected the ability to maintain manpower levels. At the same time, recruitment problems tend to occur, ultimately forming a “vicious cycle.”
“As a result, in the committee’s view, it is not surprising that more people are leaving the armed forces than joining them,” the report concluded.
We will remind, earlier The Times reported that against the background of weakening Western support for Kiev, the UK government may influence the duration of the conflict in Ukraine, dragging it out until 2025.