UK in most dangerous period I've known, military chief says
The risks and threats to the UK are greater now than at any time since the Cold War, the head of the military has said. "This is the most dangerous period that I have known," Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Richard Knighton told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He said Russia has
The risks and threats to the UK are greater now than at any time since the Cold War, the head of the military has said.
"This is the most dangerous period that I have known," Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Richard Knighton told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
He said Russia has been "probing, challenging, testing our defences", and is "raising the stakes and risks crossing a line".
Last year's Strategic Defence Review was a "call to arms", he said, and while in recent decades the armed forces have focused on preparing for short, contained conflicts, the UK needs to be ready for longer wars like the one in Ukraine.
His remarks come ahead of the expected publication of the Defence Investment Plan in the next few weeks, following repeated delays.
The document, which will set out how new equipment and defence infrastructure will be funded over the coming decade, was first due to be released in autumn 2025.
On Friday, the prime minister said the plan would be published before a Nato summit "in just a few weeks' time".
Sir Keir Starmer said: "We've been working on that defence investment plan for some time, very closely with our armed forces, as you would expect, because we need that interaction."
