Depleted British Army only strong enough to seize a small market town 'on a good day' warns general - as Royal Navy is forced to use GERMAN warship to lead Nato deployment
The British Army has ben left so depleted by years of cuts and declining troop levels that it would only be able to take a small market town - on a good day - a former general has said.
General Sir Richard Barrons said UK land forces would be unable to do anything 'substantial' in a war and would only be able to help out with small tasks in operations led by the US or Nato.
The former senior soldier, who co-wrote Labour's Strategic Defence Review (SDR) last year, spoke out amid an ongoing row over the state of the Armed Forces in light of the US-led war with Iran and increasing Russian belligerence in Europe.
On Monday Sir Keir Starmer insisted the Government was 'nearly there' with completing its delayed defence investment plan (DIP) but declined to say when it would be published. It was due to be unveiled last autumn.
The main focus of concern has been on the Royal Navy amid fury at the time it took to send one ship, Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon, to help defend Cyprus from Iranian missiles.
The state of the so-called Senior Service was thrown into fresh question today when it emerged it will use a German warship to keep a Nato commitment because it has none of its own available.
It was due to provide Dragon as the flagship for Standing Nato Maritime Group One, but senior officers will lead the taskforce in the Baltic from a Deutsche Marine ship.
General Sir Richard Barrons said UK land forces would be unable to do anything 'substantial' in a war and would only be able to help out with small tasks in operations led by the US or Nato
Concerns have been raised for many years about the manpower strength of the Army, which has fallen from 156,000 at the end of the Cold War to around 73,000 now.
The state of the so-called Senior Service was thrown into fresh question today when it emerged it will use a German warship to keep a Nato commitment because it has none of its own available.
The German embassy in London last night tweeted: 'As the UK deploys HMS Dragon to the eastern Mediterranean, German frigate Sachsen will take over from HMS Dragon as NATO maritime task group flagship - an expression of the close (Germany-UK) partnership'.
It will raise concerns that the Navy is unable to put more than warship to sea at any one time.
Of the six Type 46 destroyers, only three are nominally available. Neither of the UK's two aircraft carriers are currently at sea and the ageing Type 23 frigate fleet is similarly idle.
Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, a former Army officer, branded the situation a 'scandal', told the i Paper: 'It is a national embarrassment that the Royal Navy has run out of ships. Britannia most definitely does not rule the waves.
'I have repeatedly raised the issue of a potential lack of Type 45s to fulfil our Nato flagship commitment. Earlier this month, in response to me asking the Defence Secretary if he could guarantee a Royal Navy ship would conduct this role he assured me that we would fulfil our Nato commitments. It doesn't look like it now.'
Concerns have been raised for many years about the manpower strength of the Army, which has fallen from 156,000 at the end of the Cold War to around 73,000 now.
Speaking to the BBC Radio 4's Briefing Room programme, General Barrons, who now works for the Chatham House policy institute, said: 'The armed forces that we have now, because of their size, but also because of their sophistication, can make a very small contribution on land, in the air and at sea, to an enterprise either led by the US or more likely a Nato undertaking.
'What it cannot do is anything substantial.'
He went on: 'Today's army frankly could do one very small thing, essentially it could seize a small market town on a good day.'
Yesterday defence minister Al Carns followed the PMN in being coy about when the DIP might be published, telling MPs it would be done when 'feasible'.
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said the delay had 'left the UK vulnerable as the world becomes more dangerous', adding: Yesterday, the Prime Minister was unable to answer that simple question.
'It means that, at a time of war and conflict on multiple fronts, and amid the most dangerous time for our country since the cold war, instead of delivering rapid rearmament, Labour is presiding over a procurement freeze.'
Last summer the authors of Britain's Strategic Defence Review warned Britain's Armed Forces aren't ready to fight a war against a military with similar capabilities.
In a stark assessment, the report said that our forces are better suited 'to a peacetime era' and are 'not currently optimised for warfare against a 'peer' military state'.
The externally-led Strategic Defence Review (SDR), written by former Nato secretary general Lord Robertson, retired general Sir Richard Barrons and Russia expert Fiona Hill, was described as the most profound change to defence in 150 years.
In the event of war, Britain would be subject to attacks on its military bases at home and abroad, long-range drone and cruise missile sorties, cyber-attacks crippling national infrastructure and disruptions to economic interests and international trade routes.
The SDR states that the defence medical services couldn't cope with a mass casualty event and that the military is suffering from a recruitment crisis which means only a small number of troops could be deployed.
The document added: 'The UK is entering a new era of threat and challenge. The West's long-held military advantage is being eroded as other countries modernise and expand their armed forces at speed.'
