Wars like the one in Ukraine have forced many nations to reevaluate their military capabilities.
The question is no longer just about how advanced an army is. It's about whether it can endure the relentless demands of modern warfare.
That’s the reality facing the United Kingdom, according to one government official.
Veterans Minister Alistair Carns gave a stark warning this week about the state of Britain’s armed forces, according to Ziare.
Speaking at a London conference hosted by the Royal United Services Institute, he said the British Army might not last more than a year in a large-scale war.
“In a war like Ukraine — not a limited intervention but a full-scale conflict—our army would be depleted in six months to a year,” Carns said.
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He pointed to casualty figures in Ukraine to illustrate the issue.
There, around 1,500 Russian soldiers are killed or injured daily. In a similar situation, Carns explained, the U.K.’s forces would struggle to sustain themselves.
The minister didn’t call for a bigger standing army. Instead, he stressed the need for a well-prepared reserve force. “Reservists are absolutely central to what we’d need in such circumstances.
Without them, we can’t generate the scale required or handle the range of defense tasks,” he said. Carns also emphasized that readiness to scale up quickly during a crisis is just as important as maintaining daily operations.
Despite these concerns, others in the military leadership remain optimistic.
Rob Magowan, Deputy Chief of the U.K.’s Defense Staff, said last month that the British Army remains prepared to act immediately. “If the British Army were asked to fight tonight, it would fight tonight,” he stated.
Britain’s Army is currently at its smallest size since the 1700s.
