UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has not ruled out allowing Ukraine to use long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles on targets inside Russia. Yet the UK’s warmongering bravado comes as its own armed forces are mired in crisis.
Lack of Manpower
Britain’s armed forces are stretched thin, figures show. The intake of recruits in the 12 months to March 2023 dropped by 22.1% in the Royal Navy, almost 17% in the RAF, and nearly 15% in the army, according to official statistics.
The professional ranks of the British Army currently number 75,166 regular forces personnel, compared with around 100,000 in 2010.
A manpower crisis in the Royal Navy reportedly prompted the decommissioning of a number of ships.
Technical Issues
The Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carriers the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales have faced some technical issues, as the former was forced to pull out from NATO’s Exercise Steadfast Defender drills in February 2024 after a malfunction.
Commissioning new Type 26 frigates has been postponed, with initial operational capability anticipated from 2028.
January’s failed HMS Vanguard sea-launch test of the UK’s nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) system, the Trident II D-5, was the second successive failure, following one in 2016 involving the HMS Vengeance.
Lack of Money & Surplus of Bureaucracy
The UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) is facing a £16.9 billion ($22.17 billion) deficit, the National Audit Office (NAO) revealed in 2023. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) warned that the actual deficit could be closer to £29 billion ($38.05 billion) in a March 2024 report.
The MoD's procurement and delivery processes are mired in delays. Just two of its 46 equipment programs are "highly likely" to be delivered to time, budget, and quality, British MPs warned earlier this year.
Successful delivery of five Government Major Projects Portfolio schemes, including nuclear submarine reactors, was determined “unachievable” by a House of Commons Committee report in March.