US general warns British Army no longer among world’s top tier fighting forces: report

A senior US general recently warned Britain’s Defense Secretary Ben Wallace that the British military is no longer considered among the world’s top-tier fighting forces, according to a report on Sunday.

The source told Wallace that decades of cuts in Britain’s military defense have eroded the country’s fighting ability, Sky News reports.

FILE: Soldiers in action as the British Army demonstrate the latest and future technology used on operations around the world at the Salisbury Plains training area on October 29, 2019 in Salisbury, England.
(Finbar Webster / Getty Images)

The source was quoted as saying: “The bottom line… this is a whole service that has been unable to defend the UK and our allies for a decade.”

Another reportedly said that there was an urgent need for the UK to revitalize its military in the wake of Russia’s ongoing military aggression against Ukraine.

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The Sky News report details the UK military to give an idea of ​​what the country is up against. For example, most of its armored vehicles were built 30 to 60 years ago and “full replacements are not due for years.”

The American general is said to have told Wallace that Britain’s military is not a “tier one” fighting force like those of the United States, Russia, China or France and is “barely” in tier two.

FILE: British Army soldiers, from the Royal Welch Fusiliers Regiment and the Iraqi National Guards, board a Chinook helicopter in southern Iraq, during their first Joint Eagle Airborne Vehicle Check Point Patrol.
(Marco Di Lauro / Getty Images)

The UK’s need to modernize its military comes even as the country pledges to continue supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

Earlier this month, Britain pledged to send tanks to Ukraine after Kyiv again came under missile attacks and heavy ground fighting continued in Ukraine’s Donbas region.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he would send Ukraine Challenger 2 tanks with additional artillery systems after Saturday’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

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A US defense source was quoted as saying that Sunak’s “wartime approach is currently to cut, gift and hollow out the military.” [equipment to Ukraine] and have no plans to change [the weapons] For five to seven years.”

Fox News’ Caitlin McFaul contributed to this report.