General Sir Gwyn Jenkins says the Royal Navy will not be war-ready until the end of the 2030s.
General Sir Gwyn Jenkins has said that the Royal Navy has “work to do” to be ready for war, amid criticism from the United States for not sending ships in support of its war in Iran.
Speaking to Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet on Monday, he said: “According to the defence investigation that was completed last year, I will be ready for war by the end of this decade.”
When asked to clarify if this meant the navy was not “ready for war” at present, he confirmed he did not think the navy was.
Pete Hegseth aimed the ‘big, bad Royal Navy’ on Tuesday
While neighbouring Gulf states have sustained drone and missile strikes from Iran, the conflict has sent shockwaves through the money market as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps remains in control of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime trade route, which has sent the price of oil sky high.
President Donald Trump aimed the UK on Tuesday, calling on Britain to either buy jet fuel from the US or take it straight from the Strait of Hormuz.
He wrote in a frenzied post on Truth Social: “All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT.
Sir Gwyn told the Swedish newspaper that it isn’t just the UK that is not ready for war – other Nato allies were also lagging in the race to be war-ready at such a combative time.
Nato allies committed to a new target of investing 5 per cent of GDP annually on defence and security by 2035 at the summit in December, including at least 3.5 per cent for core military requirements and 1.5 per cent for related security, such as cybersecurity and defence industry investments, upgrading from the previous two per cent target.
All 32 alliance members met the two per cent expenditure target last year, according to a report from NATO last Thursday, with Europe and Canada raising their defence expenditure.
The first sea lord is spot on, having witnessed a declining armed forces for the last 50 years he very correct, standards have gone down, but the other problem is technology has jumped so far ahead in a short time it’s hard to catch up when you neglect things for even a short time, training, research, and skills haven’t been replaced over the year leaving a huge shortage of skilled people, privatisation of various departments has also played it part in that decline, basically we are miles behind.