The British Army is no longer regarded as a top-level fighting force, a senior US general has reportedly told defence secretary Ben Wallace.
Department sources have disclosed that cost-cutting measures have seen the armed force decline in the eyes of world leaders, Sky reported on Monday.
“Bottom line… it’s an entire service unable to protect the UK and our allies for a decade,” the source is quoted as saying.
The defence budget would need to be increased by £3 billion a year to address the US general’s concern, the sources said.
They called on Rishi Sunak to not fail in his role as “wartime prime minister” by going through with plans to shrink the size of the army further.
The army is currently 76,000-strong but would shrink to 73,000 if downsizing plans go ahead. Among other challenges, the majority of armoured vehicles were built 30 to 60 years ago and are not due to be renewed for years and 30 per cent of troops on ‘high readiness’ are reservists, Sky reports.
After the unnamed US general’s frank assessment to Mr Wallace, the sources called on the government to additionally ease rules restricting the UK’s ability to buy weapons and ammunition.
The measures are said to be urgently needed, with the European Union saying Vladimir Putin had effectively declared war on Nato. The conflict has led France and Germany to bolster their own defence forces.
“You haven’t got a tier one, it’s barely tier two,” the US general reportedly said of the UK’s situation.
However, insiders have said that the UK is on track to expand and develop its armed forces.
“It’s now in a better cycle with a lot of new investment over the next ten years”, one source told Sky. “As long as they don’t screw up the procurement, they’re on track to be a modern army.”
Mr Sunak was the world’s first leader to send tanks to Ukraine, with the US and Germany following suit.
Speaking on Monday, the prime minister said Britain should be “really proud” of the action it has taken in standing up to Russian aggression.
He highlighted how the UK had recently provided heavy tanks – Challenger 2s – to Kyiv to help with its defence.
“We were the first major country to do that. What that has led to is other countries, like America and like Germany, saying they will do the same thing,” he said during a Q&A in County Durham.
“That is really important because it will provide the support that Ukraine needs to, hopefully, make more progress against Russia over the early part of this year.”
The Ministry of Defence has been approached for comment.
