Key Takeaways
- The UK’s military chief, Sir Richard Knighton, warns that the nation needs to be prepared for potential threats from Russia, including hybrid attacks and cyber-attacks.
- Sir Richard emphasizes the importance of a "whole-of-society response" to national security, including harnessing UK universities, manufacturing, and the NHS.
- The UK needs to build its industrial capacity to meet the demands of re-stocking and re-arming, and to encourage young people to take up careers in the defence industry.
- The government has announced plans to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, and Sir Richard highlights the need for defence and political leaders to explain the importance of the industry to the nation.
- The UK needs to build its resilience to hybrid threats and avoid war, and more families will "know what sacrifice for our nation means" as the nation seeks to deter a potential confrontation with Russia.
Introduction to the Threat
The head of the UK’s military, Sir Richard Knighton, has warned that the nation needs to be prepared for potential threats from Russia, including hybrid attacks and cyber-attacks. In a speech at the Royal United Services Institute, Sir Richard emphasized that the UK’s security "cannot be outsourced to the armed forces" and requires a "whole-of-society response". This includes harnessing the UK’s universities, manufacturing, and the NHS to build the nation’s resilience and avoid war. Sir Richard highlighted the threat posed by Russia, citing the example of a Russian spy ship that was recently suspected of mapping undersea cables near UK waters.
The Growing Threat from Russia
Sir Richard noted that while the chance of Russia directly attacking the UK is remote, the threat from hybrid attacks is worsening. He referenced the fact that the UK is subject to an onslaught of cyber-attacks from Russia every day, and that Russian agents are seeking to conduct sabotage and have killed on UK shores. Furthermore, Russia’s military has become a "hard power [which] is growing quickly", with a massive, increasingly technically sophisticated, and now highly combat-experienced military. Despite Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine being a strategic failure, Sir Richard warned that the UK should be under no illusions about the threat posed by Russia.
Building National Resilience
To build the nation’s resilience, Sir Richard emphasized the need to go beyond strengthening the military and to harness the UK’s universities, energy, and manufacturing industries, as well as the NHS. This includes building industrial capacity to meet the demands of re-stocking and re-arming, and to encourage young people to take up careers in the defence industry. Sir Richard announced £50m for new defence technical excellence colleges to address the skills gap highlighted in a recent report by the Royal Academy of Engineering. He also emphasized the need for defence and political leaders to explain the importance of the industry to the nation, and for schools and parents to encourage children and young adults to take up careers in the industry.
The Need for Increased Defence Spending
The UK government has announced plans to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, which Sir Richard described as the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War. He emphasized that this increase in spending is necessary to build the nation’s resilience and to deter potential threats from Russia. Sir Richard also highlighted the need for a "whole-of-society response" to national security, including the involvement of universities, manufacturing, and the NHS. He noted that more families will "know what sacrifice for our nation means" as the nation seeks to deter a potential confrontation with Russia.
Conclusion and Call to Action
In conclusion, Sir Richard emphasized the need for the UK to build its resilience to hybrid threats and to avoid war. He called on defence and political leaders to explain the importance of the industry to the nation, and for schools and parents to encourage children and young adults to take up careers in the industry. Sir Richard also emphasized the need for the nation to come together to build its industrial capacity and to meet the demands of re-stocking and re-arming. As the UK seeks to deter a potential confrontation with Russia, more families will "know what sacrifice for our nation means", and it is essential that the nation is prepared to respond to the changing threat landscape.
