Britain must become a naval superpower once again or risk defeat at sea against Vladimir Putin’s fleet, the head of the Navy has warned.
General Sir Gwyn Jenkins said Russia is ‘probing Britain for weakness’ and may seek to use the UK’s own war tactics against it by targeting vital underwater cables on day one of any future conflict.
In a private speech yesterday, the First Sea Lord said we must ‘strengthen our warfighting readiness’ by urgently building more warships and drones to guard the Atlantic.
Sir Gwyn said: ‘The greatest threat to our security today is Russia.
‘Russia retains advanced submarines that are increasingly difficult to track, long-range precision weapons, and specialist systems designed to operate deep underwater.’
The Navy is having to deploy two warships a week to track Moscow’s vessels, which he said are ‘probing, testing and mapping’ the sea floor for weaknesses.
Sir Gwyn said: ‘Critical undersea infrastructure is now part of the strategic landscape. On the day that the UK declared war on Germany, the allies severed its transatlantic telegraph cables.
‘I pray it does not happen, but were we to go to war again, we know our enemies will try to use the same playbook against us.’
He added: ‘Sea power not only sustained us during the war. It arguably saved us. Lose the war at sea and you lose the war. That was the warning of Admiral Pound, the First Sea Lord of the day, and it remains true now.
‘If we are to prevail in the Atlantic again, we must strengthen our warfighting readiness and rediscover what it means to be a maritime nation.’
Sir Gwyn’s warning came on the day Prime Minister Andy Burnham met with Nato chief Mark Rutte for the first time in person.
The Prime Minister faces political pressure to show how the UK will meet its Nato commitment of allocating 3.5% of gross domestic product – a measure of the size of the economy – for core defence spending by 2035.
Chancellor John Healey quit as defence secretary in Sir Keir Starmer’s administration in a row over funding, arguing that it was necessary to reach 3% by 2030.
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Mr Rutte used a speech later on Wednesday to praise the UK for being ‘serious about security’.
‘It is leading, along with Nato allies, the push back against Russia’s dangerous and reckless campaign against us,’ Mr Rutte said.
He added: ‘Collectively we will continue to strengthen our ability to deter and defend all allies, against any threat.
‘Nato will not be intimidated by Russia’s campaign of hostile actions. Russia wants to stop us helping Ukraine – but their actions will only lead us to do more for Ukraine. Russia’s actions are a sign of weakness, and a symptom of Putin’s failure in Ukraine.’
Nato allies have agreed to hike spending on security to 5% of economic output by 2035 including the 3.5% target on core defence spending, amid burgeoning threats from Russia and China and demands from Donald Trump’s America that European member states invest more in their own security.
Mr Rutte praised British efforts already under way to hike defence spending, which is expected to rise to around 2.7% of GDP by 2027.
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