MPs have warned that the United Kingdom’s military is likely to find itself “outgunned” in any potential conflict with the Russian Federation.
In a damning report, the Commons Defence Committee described efforts to modernise the Army’s fleet of Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFV) as “woeful”.
The ageing and depleted fleet puts the Army at “serious risk” of being outmatched by adversaries, it states.
The Ministry of Defence has promised “an upgraded, digitised and networked armoured force to meet future threats”.
The report entitled Obsolescent and Outgunned highlighted the “bureaucratic procrastination” and “general ineptitude” which had “bedevilled” attempts to re-equip the Army over the past two decades.
In 1990, the UK had around 1,200 main battle tanks in its inventory – today it has 227, the report states. It said armoured vehicle capability had reached “a point of batch obsolescence, falling behind that of our allies and potential adversaries”.
“The Army’s Armoured Fighting Vehicle programme has been plagued with uncertainties,
“The decision to invest in fighting vehicles is too often hampered by uncertainties over what the Army wants them for and pitted against the desire to fund other defence priorities,” said Committee chairman Tobias Ellwood.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We thank the Defence Committee for their report and acknowledge their recommendations as we look to improve the management of our large and complex equipment programmes.
“Aided by the substantial £24bn settlement for defence, the Integrated Review will provide resources to deliver an upgraded, digitised and networked armoured force to meet future threats.”
Shadow defence secretary John Healey said: “Our Army would currently be forced to go into battle with out-of-date armoured vehicles that could be heavily outgunned. Nothing characterises Boris Johnson’s ‘era of retreat’ over the last decade more starkly than this.”
Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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