Defence chiefs call for sweeping reform of armed forces to deal with terror and cyber threats

Threats such as hostile states, jihadists and cyber warfare have created a state of permanent hostility, warns minister

Chief of Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter during a visit to HMS Tamar (PA)

Britain’s armed forces will need to carry out some of the most radical and sweeping reforms in recent times to counter the threats from hostile states, jihadists and cyber warfare, according to the most senior people in the military.

A state of permanent hostility has been created, with the lines between war and peace blurred through illicit actions by adversaries who have left the UK behind in some arenas of modern combat, said defence secretary Ben Wallace.

“Our enemies have studied our vulnerabilities and adapted far more quickly than us. The static concept of war versus peace no longer applies as we are contested on either side of the threshold of armed conflict on a regular basis. 

"Our values and interests are being challenged in the ‘greyzone’ all over the world,” he said.

Speaking as the integrated review of defence, security and foreign policy gets underway, Mr Wallace stated that a “future force” must be one that “maintains our leadership in Nato, but is more forward-deployed: deterring Russian activity in Europe; combating terror in the Middle East and the Sahel; and countering Chinese activity in the Asia Pacific”.

Talking on board  the Royal Navy’s newest warship, HMS Tamar, Mr Wallace outlined his version of the future of conflict: “This is the Swiss Army Knife of the Royal Navy,  capable of everything from guarding our shores to anti-smuggling and counterterrorist operations. And it is the greenest ship in the Royal Navy to boot.”

The changes envisaged would mean that “instead of mass and mobilisation, this future force will be about speed, readiness and resilience, operating much more in the newest domains of space, cyber and sub-sea, and working to prevent conflict, as well as winning it”, said Mr Wallace.

General Sir Nick Carter, the chief of defence staff, echoed the need for a new approach. But he also wanted to stress the essential facts of life and death in combat.

“While the character of conflict evolved continuously, the nature of war never changes. It will always be visceral, violent and about politics. 

"Ultimately, it’ll always require people to go head-to-head on the ground to seek a result and decision. It never changes, we should bear that in mind and history will underpin it,” said Gen Carter. 

Britain’s military “fight war if it happens, because that underpins the credibility and capability you need to operate”.

Gen Carter acknowledged there was a need for a new approach. “These opponents no longer distinguish between peace and war, between foreign and domestic policy – or for that matter between public or private. They now compete in all these different areas and they take great opportunity in blurring these distinctions."

The defence secretary had claimed earlier that this review would be like no other. “In the past, too many reviews were over-ambitious or underfunded or both. Too often the budget, not the threat, did the talking. 

"So we will pivot away from what we have become used to and instead reshape our armed forces to become a force fit for tomorrow’s battles, not fighting yesterday’s,” he said.

Mr Wallace refused to be drawn on any possible cuts in numbers of personnel or any budgetary cuts.  

Julian Lewis, the chairman of the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee, has claimed that holding the review at a time of pandemic was "strategically illiterate”. 

He said: “For the medium- to long-term, they will be meaningless – unless the government accepts, at the outset, that it cannot recover more than a fraction of the coronavirus expenditure by inflicting intolerable further cuts on defence, and should not try to do so.”