Soldiers no longer need to be in physical prime in age of cyber warfare

Soldiers no longer need to be in their physical prime in the age of cyber warfare, the Strategy Command Chief has suggested, as he likened the onslaught of attacks to the Blitz.

General Sir Patrick Sanders, Head of Strategic Command for the Ministry of Defence, said military who were tech facing were more crucial than ever as he revealed that every year the systems at MoD Corsham in Wiltshire managed “millions of network and cyber” attacks.

As the Armed Forces seek to recruit personnel with “very different skill sets” it is understood that such recruits will not need to fit certain body types nor be subjected to fitness tests.

“We are encouraging diversity in the way that traditional recruiting methods don’t,” Sir Patrick said.

“The sort of people we are looking to attract and retain will look differently, will think differently, will behave differently and it’s a much more diverse workforce.”

Sir Patrick warned that the drive for personnel with a cyber focus was due to the volume of cyber attacks MoD Corsham deals with.

“Most are dealt with automatically, but around 1,800 per month - or 60 a day - require intervention,” he revealed.

Sir Patrick also warned that while the UK is “not at war in cyberspace” if too many “bombers” continue to carry out cyber attacks at pace it could “sow the seeds of defeat”.

“If this was an air war, it would be the Blitz,” Sir Patrick said.

“Unlike the Blitz, there's no physical destruction, though there could be, as you've heard, and so thankfully it's bloodless but the intensity and the frequency of the attacks are on the same scale and if we let too many so called bombers and their payloads through then it will sow the seeds of defeat. Not immediately, but slowly, insidiously, corrosively and inevitably.”

Earlier this year Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, told Sandhurst graduates that they would have to be more "unconventional" in warfare across cyber and space. Mr Wallace said their next stage of training would coincide with the publication of the highly anticipated Integrated Defence and Security Review, which he said would deliver "a force to meet tomorrow's battles".

"As young officers, be prepared to be more active, more deployed and more unconventional," he said at a speech in August.

"I want the Army to be, once again, forward deployed across the globe, and I want you all to have the capabilities to challenge in new domains of cyber and space."

Sir Patrick added that the UK’s ability to defend itself in cyberspace “is at least as important as the Quick Ready Alert Typhoons from the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Ready Escort and Submarines in the Royal Navy”.

“And if anything, even more so, because cyberspace is the most active domain, where adversaries and allies will meet over the next decade,” he said.