London-agencies :
A senior US general has told British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace that the British Army is no longer a high-level fighting force and is "unable to protect Britain and the allies".
According to the British Sky News Channel, a high-ranking American general secretly informed the British Defense Minister about this.
It is said that decades of cuts have led to a decline in the combat combat capability of the British Army, which should be reversed faster than planned in view of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.
The channel quoted Defense sources that the US general made this assessment last fall.
He ranked the United States, Russia, China and France as countries with a high level of combat power, and countries such as Germany and Italy as countries belonging to the second level, that is, the least combat-ready.
Speaking about Britain, he said: "You don't have the first level. It's hardly the second level".
Rishi Sunak risks failing in his role as a "wartime prime minister unless he takes urgent action in light of the growing security threat posed by Russia,"the sources said.
In order to do this, it was proposed to increase the defense budget by at least 3 billion pounds a year without further reductions in the size of the army, while peacetime procurement rules should be relaxed in order to quickly purchase weapons.
The source said: "We have a wartime prime minister and a wartime Chancellor.. The choices they make in the coming weeks will be seen by history as fundamental to whether this government really believes that its primary duty is to defend the world or whether this is just a slogan to be ranted about."
By providing an insight into the scale of the challenge faced by the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force:
The Armed Forces will run out of ammunition "in a few days" if they are asked to fight.
Britain lacks the ability to defend its airspace against the level of missile and drone strikes carried out by Ukraine.
It will take the army from 5 to 10 years to be able to deploy a combat battle squad of about 25 – 30 thousand soldiers supported by tanks, artillery and helicopters.
About 30% of the British troops on high alert are reservists who are unable to mobilize within NATO schedules.
The majority of the army's armored vehicle fleet, including tanks, was built 30-60 years ago, and its complete replacement will not be scheduled for years.
European powers such as France and Germany announced plans to significantly increase defense spending after Russia's military operation in Ukraine last year.
The British Army Numbers only 76 thousand soldiers, which is less than half the size it was in 1990, the smallest since the time of Napoleon.
It is planned that the force will be further reduced to 73 thousand under the current plans, which will be implemented unless more funds are provided.
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