Britain is prepared to send more Challenger 2 tanks from its dwindling arsenal to Ukraine if the tanks already slated for delivery to Kiev are knocked out in fighting, Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace has said.
“Would I be open to more tanks? Yes, I would,” Wallace said, speaking to media during a photo op visit to the Bovington Camp Army base in Dorset this week, where Ukrainian tankers are receiving training on the use of Challenger 2s.
Earlier in the week, sources in Whitehall grumbled to media that Britain was “hollowing out our forces” through the weapons deliveries to Ukraine, and accused the Sunak government of failing to do enough as far as “investing in defense” is concerned.
Wallace has asked Number 10 for an injection of £10 billion more for defense spending, even as Britain faces its worst energy and cost of livings crisis in over half a century.
A separate media report Wednesday found that less than 100 of Britain’s stock of Challenger 2 tanks are currently considered ‘battle ready’, with 14 of those being transferred to Ukraine. Britain’s Army is consequently expected to be left short of tanks until at least 2027, when the upgraded Challenger 3 MBTs begin to arrive.
Britain’s defense establishment has been up in arms about the lack of new funding for the military and the possibility of personnel cuts, with former defense officials and senior officers making a series of mostly anonymous comments to media in recent weeks attacking Number 10 for failing to make plans replace the billions in arms sent to Ukraine, and for leaving insufficient equipment to mount an effective defense of the realm in the event of a crisis.
This week, former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss publicly urged Sunak to ramp up arms aid to Kiev by sending British fighter jets to Ukraine. The Royal Air Force’s inventory currently consists of about 100 Eurofighter Typhoon fighters. The UK’s fighter fleet also includes Lockheed Martin F-35B jets, but these are operated by the Royal Navy.
Moscow has warned London and other NATO countries of the risks associated with the delivery of advanced weapons to Ukraine -including the threat of escalating the conflict into a hot war with Russia, and the dangers of weapons finding their way into the hands of criminal and terrorist groups thanks to thriving weapons smuggling black market operations in the chaos-ridden country.