It is believed the UK armed forces hope to be ready for full scale conflict in several years time, despite having suffered huge difficulty in recruitment and retention of troops
16:33, 12 Jan 2026Updated 16:33, 12 Jan 2026
The head of the British Armed Forces has admitted the UK is not currently ready for “full-scale” war because of defence budgets and our enjoyment of the Cold War “peace dividend.” Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton admitted the UK defence budget is limited by the UK military’s instruction to respond to changes such as preparing to send troops to Ukraine.
But he suggested Russia ’s being currently tied down in Ukraine, suffering enormous casualties, means Britain may have time to make ready for the threat of war. The Chief of the Defence Staff admitted to the all-party Defence Committee: "Over the last 30 years since the end of the Cold War we haven't been ready.
“We have taken a peace dividend and we are not as ready as we need to be for a kind of full scale conflict that we might face." He said: "It's how we ultimately deter our principal adversaries, being ready to fight and win. So part of that is how we modernise and transform the armed forces is to make sure they're ready for that fight in the future." He said British defence is enjoying the "largest sustained increase in defence spending that I've known."
But he blamed a shortfall in budgeting on the UK’s ability to switch up its defence ability at short notice. This year the defence budget is £62.2 billion, a figure that will rise by £11 billion by 2027.
And the CDS refused to go into detail about a claimed £28 billion defence shortfall, saying it was “speculation.” He said:"My role is to advise ministers and the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister about how we rebuild our armed forces with the money that they have provided..."
Derbyshire man Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard, a veteran RAF officer and engineer, joined the forces in 1988. He was speaking to the British Defence Committee after taking up the role in September last year. The UK is undergoing a massive overhaul aimed at focusing on preparing Britain for growing threats such as that from Russia and China. It is believed the UK armed forces hope to be ready for full scale conflict in several years time, despite having suffered huge difficulty in recruitment and retention of troops.
He said the change in tempo of threat and the need for changes in military spending challenged his budgets. One example he gave was preparations for the UK to send troops to Ukraine.
He said: "You heard the defence secretary say we are spending money on enhancing capability in case we have to deploy forces into Ukraine... all of those factors add complexity and uncertainty. “ Labour MP Fred Thomas, a former Royal Marine officer, asked him:" Do you have the sense that the current government is going to fund defence fully enough for us to be ready for full scale combat in the next few years?"
In a long answer the CDS replied: "I'll be completely honest with you that we will not be able to do everything that we wish to do as quickly as we might want to. But that is a matter for ministers around the trade-offs that they may make.
“My job is to make ministers understand the consequences..." He added: “There is a heated debate about when Russia might be ready to do something versus NATO - right now they are fixed in Ukraine. They are taking an enormous number of casualties, over 1.4 million perhaps and some reports suggest 400,000 deaths this year. So the risk position changes over time and our job is to ensure that our forces are as ready as they can be. We should be realistic about the threat that we face.” He was asked if more money made available earlier to the military would make a difference. And he warned: “It will make a difference.”
And later he argued that currently Russia, which has “well over half a million” troops on the frontline “is fixed in Ukraine.” But he refused to go into detail on numbers of troops required to deter Russia with a security backstop in Ukraine if a peace deal is struck because that would tip off “Putin.”