New UK government orders review of ‘hollowed out’ armed forces

PARIS — The U.K.’s new government ordered a “root and branch review” of the armed forces, which Prime Minister Keir Starmer described as “hollowed out” and in need of strengthening.

Work on the review will start immediately “in recognition of the urgency of the threats” the U.K. faces, the government said on Tuesday, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East and rising global threats. The review will solicit input from the armed forces, the defense industry, NATO allies and others through to the end of September, with the report due in the first half of 2025.

The U.K. Armed Forces face multiple capability shortfalls , according to a parliamentary defense committee report published in February . The country’s former chief of the general staff, Patrick Sanders, has repeatedly warned that defense cuts risk leaving the U.K. unprepared for war and lacking the capability to launch operations such as the 2003 invasion of southern Iraq.

“We need to be clear-eyed about the threats we face, with the world becoming more volatile and technology changing the nature of warfare,” Defence Secretary John Healey said in a statement. “In response, our armed forces need to be better ready to fight, more integrated and more innovative. We need clearer accountability, faster delivery, less waste and better value for money.”

Former NATO secretary-general George Robertson will lead the review, together with foreign-affairs specialist and former U.S. presidential adviser Fiona Hill as well as former commander of the U.K.’s Joint Forces Command, retired Gen. Richard Barrons. The reviewers will consider the threat Britain faces, the capabilities required to meet them, as well as the state of the armed forces.

The U.K. and its allies face a “deadly quartet” of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea that is working together against the west, Robertson said in a briefing, according to media reports. He said the U.K. and NATO allies have to be prepared to confront all four if necessary.

Healey will oversee the review, while the reviewers will be supported by a team of high-level experts from inside and outside the government.

Budget pressures have taken a heavy toll on the British Army, threatening the U.K.’s ability to be a serious partner on NATO’s eastern border, Marion Messmer, senior research fellow in the International Security Programme at Chatham House, wrote in a July 10 note .

The Army is the least modernized of the U.K.’s services and faces an urgent need to invest in equipment, Nick Childs and Ben Barry at the International Institute for Strategic Studies said in a report on July 12 . The funding squeeze for the British armed forces has also raised doubts about the Royal Navy’s shipbuilding plans, while identified capability gaps such as integrated missile defense will carry a “considerable price tag,” according to Childs and Barry.

“The underlying problem is that U.K. defense was hollowed out at a time when we actually needed to commence recapitalization,” said Nicholas Drummond, a U.K. defense industry analyst and consultant, in a post on the social network X. “The armed forces lack sufficient mass, lethality and resilience to fight a sustained conflict against a peer adversary.”

Drummond said the U.K.’s three services all have too few personnel: While the Navy has too few attack submarines and anti-submarine frigates, the Royal Air Force is short of aircraft and the Army lacks sufficient combat-support assets such as artillery and engineering units.

U.K. defense spending was £54.2 billion (U.S. $70.3 billion) in the 2023-24 financial year, and is expected to rise 4.5% to £57.1 billion in the 2024-25 year. The U.K. spent an estimated 2.3% of GDP on defense in 2023, and Starmer has confirmed government plans to raise spending to 2.5% of GDP, without providing a time frame.

U.K. Regular Forces personnel numbered 138,100 as of Jan. 1, down 3.8% from a year earlier and falling across all three services, according to quarterly data published in May . The headcount had dropped by more than 9,000 from three years earlier.

The review will seek to ensure the U.K. continues to lead in NATO, strengthen homeland security, modernize and maintain the nuclear deterrent and adapt military services and equipment programs to meet requirements, the government said. The review will also endeavor to bolster Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s aggression.

“Threats to our safety and security have multiplied and diversified in recent years, including greater conventional threats, cyberattacks and misinformation campaigns, requiring an in-depth look, conducted at pace, at how we can best meet those evolving threats,” the government said.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——英国新政府下令对武装部队进行“彻底审查”，首相基尔·斯塔默称武装部队“空心化严重”，需要加强。

英国政府周二表示，鉴于英国面临的威胁“迫在眉睫”，将立即启动审查工作。政府列举了俄罗斯入侵乌克兰、中东冲突以及日益严峻的全球威胁等问题。审查工作将征求武装部队、国防工业、北约盟国及其他各方的意见，审查工作将持续到9月底，报告预计将于2025年上半年发布。

根据英国议会国防委员会二月份发布的一份报告，英国武装部队面临多项能力不足的问题。英国前总参谋长帕特里克·桑德斯曾多次警告，削减国防开支会增加英国战备不足的风险，并使其缺乏发动类似2003年入侵伊拉克南部等军事行动的能力。

“随着世界局势日益动荡，科技也在改变战争的性质，我们必须清醒地认识到我们所面临的威胁，”国防大臣约翰·希利在一份声明中表示。“为此，我们的武装部队需要做好更充分的作战准备，更加一体化，更具创新性。我们需要更明确的问责机制、更快的交付速度、更少的浪费和更高的资金使用效率。”

前北约秘书长乔治·罗伯逊将领导此次评估，其他成员包括外交事务专家、前美国总统顾问菲奥娜·希尔以及英国联合部队司令部前司令、退役将军理查德·巴伦斯。评估人员将考察英国面临的威胁、应对这些威胁所需的能力以及英国武装部队的现状。

据媒体报道，罗伯逊在一次简报会上表示，英国及其盟友面临着由中国、俄罗斯、伊朗和朝鲜组成的“致命四国”，它们正联手对抗西方。他指出，英国和北约盟国必须做好准备，必要时与这四个国家对抗。

希利将负责监督审查工作，审查人员将得到来自政府内外的高级专家团队的支持。

查塔姆研究所国际安全项目高级研究员玛丽昂·梅斯默在 7 月 10 日的一份报告中写道，预算压力给英国陆军造成了沉重打击，威胁到英国成为北约东部边界重要伙伴的能力。

国际战略研究所的尼克·查尔兹和本·巴里在7月12日发布的一份报告中指出，英国陆军是英国各军种中现代化程度最低的，亟需投资购置装备。报告还指出，英国武装部队的资金紧缩也使人们对皇家海军的造船计划产生了疑虑，而诸如综合导弹防御等已确定的能力缺口将需要“相当大的代价”。

英国国防工业分析师兼顾问尼古拉斯·德拉蒙德在社交网络X上发帖称：“根本问题在于，英国国防力量在真正需要开始进行资本重组的时候却被掏空了。武装部队缺乏足够的规模、杀伤力和韧性来与势均力敌的对手进行持久战。”

德拉蒙德表示，英国的三军人员都太少：海军的攻击型潜艇和反潜护卫舰数量不足，皇家空军飞机短缺，陆军缺乏足够的作战支援力量，例如炮兵和工程部队。

英国2023-24财年的国防开支为542亿英镑（约合703亿美元），预计2024-25财年将增长4.5%，达到571亿英镑。英国2023年的国防开支约占GDP的2.3%，斯塔默已确认政府计划将国防开支提高到GDP的2.5%，但未给出具体时间表。

根据5月份公布的季度数据，截至1月1日，英国正规军人数为138100人，比上年同期下降3.8%，三军人数均有所下降。与三年前相比，人数已减少超过9000人。

英国政府表示，此次评估旨在确保英国继续在北约中发挥领导作用，加强国土安全，实现核威慑力量的现代化和维护，并调整军事服务和装备计划以满足需求。评估还将致力于支持乌克兰对抗俄罗斯的侵略。

政府表示：“近年来，对我们安全和保障的威胁不断增加和多样化，包括更大的传统威胁、网络攻击和虚假信息宣传活动，因此需要我们迅速深入地研究如何才能最好地应对这些不断变化的威胁。”

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。