It also pledges that the military will become a science and technology superpower by enhancing its capabilities in robotics, human augmentation and laser guns. On top of this will be £400 million to modernise accommodation for service families. The plan, set to be announced in Parliament on Tuesday, pledges £2.5 billion investment in stockpiles to improve the war-fighting readiness of the Armed Forces. He added that his job was to get the military “match fit” should the country wish to expand its Armed Forces in the future. And I’m not prepared to sacrifice that just to satisfy a top trump card,” he said. Mr Wallace said the fundamental lesson from Ukraine was that a military needed to be “perfectly formed”. “If it’s going to be a battle group, are you going to buy 300 armoured vehicles or am I just going to give them a pitchfork? I mean, that’s the choice.” You’ve got to equip those soldiers with married accommodation, barracks, night sights, helmets, guns, whatever equipment you’re going to give them. He said: “I’m not prepared to cut the Armed Forces by about £5 billion to put on a postcard ‘I’m going to go back to 82,000’.
Mr Wallace previously announced that the number of fully trained soldiers would fall to 73,000 by 2025 – its smallest size ever, down from 82,000. The paper outlines how the military will modernise and adapt to the “changing global picture” as well as prioritise investment in science and technology. He made the comments ahead of the publication of the Defence Command Paper on Tuesday, which has been updated from its original publication in 2021 in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Britain must pay for tanks, not more troops, the Defence Secretary has said ahead of a major announcement on the military’s plans in response to the invasion of Ukraine.īen Wallace said reversing cuts to the size of the Army would have meant sending troops into battle equipped with “pitchforks” instead of high-tech weapons because of the constraints of the defence budget.