Source · Select Committees · Defence Committee
Recommendation 41
41
Accepted
British Armed Forces lack sufficient preparation for industrial-scale war fighting.
Conclusion
Professor Michael Clarke told us “British forces over the past 30 years have done a great deal of operating, but have not prepared for war fighting, and there is a big difference between operating efficiently and well, and preparing for war fighting. The Ukraine war has brought the spectre of industrial warfare back to Europe in ways that have been relatively surprising, I think.”62 Warfighting readiness
Government Response Summary
The government agrees the threat has changed and states that Defence is being optimized to fight, with lessons from Ukraine leading to re-evaluation of capabilities and readiness. It highlights £1.95bn allocated to address capability gaps and improve resilience.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Government agrees with the Committee’s assertion that the full-scale invasion of Ukraine has fundamentally changed the threat. In the last two years, the world has changed–geopolitically, technologically, economically. The threats and challenges we face have evolved. An environment of global competition has shifted to one of contestation. That is why the update to the Defence Command Paper in 2023 underlined Defence’s two clear ambitions: to protect the nation and help it prosper. To compete effectively against the threats and adversaries facing the UK, Defence must be optimised to fight, whilst able to operate in lower-intensity scenarios. That is why the Department is embedding a sustained, campaigning approach that keeps pace with the evolving threat context. In line with the IRR, this means ‘think long-term; act now’. ... The lessons that Defence is learning from Ukraine have led to a re-evaluation of our assumptions around capabilities and readiness. The £1.95bn for resilience and readiness will be spent in full on measures to address gaps in our capabilities. That is not just about new investments and new equipment. It will also be used to address long standing challenges across the defence programme, which will make us better able to respond to the threats of today and tomorrow. We must address the totality of this from within the funding provided to us at the Spring Budget 23.