The UK is facing the "greatest military threat in a generation," experts have urged, with a top general warning the UK's 'sons and daughters' need to be ready for war with Russia.
16:29, 12 Dec 2025Updated 16:22, 16 Dec 2025
Fighting for your country in the event of WW3 remains hypothetical, but could become an unpleasant reality sooner than Brits might hope. The head of Britain's armed forces Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton has warned that the nation's 'son's and daughters' need to be ready to fight in a war with Russia.
The top general said he wanted to honest with "families and households" about the rising threat facing the country, warning that "more families will know what sacrifice for our nation means" as he spoke of the rising threat from Vladimir Putin.
Air Chf Mshl Sir Richard Knighton said that while there remained a "remote" chance of Russia launching a "significant direct attack or invasion" against Britain, this "does not mean the chances are zero" and that the likelihood was rising, not falling. He added: "The situation is more dangerous than I have known during my career, and the price of peace is rising."
"It needs a whole of nation response that builds our defence industrial capacity, grows the skills we need, harnesses the power of the institutions we will need in wartime and ensures and increases the resilience of society and the infrastructure that supports it."
"Sons and daughters. Colleagues. Veterans... will all have a role to play. To build. To serve. And if necessary, to fight. And more families will know what sacrifice for our nation means." The top general's warning comes after NATO Chief Mark Rutte said that member states must "prepare for war".
"We are Russia's next target," Rutte said, "And we are already in harm's way. Russia has brought war back to Europe, and we must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured." He urged member states to ensure that Ukraine does not end up "under the boot of Russian occupation," which would leave Putin's "forces pressing against a longer border with NATO, and the significantly increased risk of an armed attack against us." If you can't see the poll below, click here.
Putin and his Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, have said they have no desire to go to war with Europe, but that if two major "red lines" were crossed, they would not hesitate to attack - which includes the UK sending boots on the ground in Ukraine. After reports emerged that a 28-year-old British paratrooper, George Hooley, died in Ukraine during a defensive test away from the front line, a Kremlin mouthpiece called a nuclear strike against the UK "inevitable" on Russian state TV.
The idea of nuclear powers going to war is a chilling one. Posturing by Russian state media is nothing new, but international relations experts have warned that Russia poses a "grave threat" to the UK and its European allies.
A major part of the scale of that threat lies with US President Donald Trump, who recently dubbed Europe a "decaying" and "weak" continent in an interview. His National Security Strategy indicates the US is looking to take a hands-off approach to its traditional Western allies, and the peace framework recently proposed by Washington to end the Russia-Ukraine war would see huge parts of Ukraine ceded to Putin, and limits put on the size of Kyiv's military.
Germany and France have both moved to introduce voluntary military training for 18-year-olds, with the German government hoping to keep this as volunteers only as long as possible, but from mid-2027, all men turning 18 will have to take a medical exam to see if they are fit for service.
The UK government have announced this year a significant increase in defence spending, with it making up 2.5 percent of GDP by 2027. This year, the government spent £62.2 billion on defence, including £15bn of investment into upgrading the country's nuclear capabilities.
However, some experts are worried that it could be too little too late, and that a failure to act quickly to the threat posed by Russia to the UK would be potentially fatal. Dr Arnab Basu, CEO of Kormek, explains, "The UK MOD is saying all the right things about its defensive strategy, as outlined earlier this year in the Strategic Defence Review, but the gears of government and the bureaucracy grind so slowly, that it’s difficult to see much real progress as CEO of a British company.
"They have promised more defence spending but we are yet to see the benefits. The reality is that the UK, and by extension, the world, faces its greatest military threat of a generation. Failure to take definitive action to prepare for a worst-case scenario could be our greatest mistake."
Another expert, Professor Anthony Glees of the University of Buckingham, said that the "days are over, full stop" when the UK can rely upon the US to stand with them, and that the "weak" state of the military leaves a lot to be desired.
"We are too weak right now, with more parking enforcement officers than troops in the UK," he said, adding, "We in Europe know that this is our gravest hour since the 1930s."
What do you think? Would you fight to defend the UK? Take our poll and have your say in the comments.