UK military must adapt to 'darkening' landscape, says outgoing army chief

The British military needs to adapt to face a “darkening” security landscape of international terrorism, the North Korea crisis, and competition from the east, including Russia’s modernised military capability, the outgoing head of the armed forces said.

The chief of defence staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, said Nato was the “cornerstone” of British security and he could see no point in duplicating its role with an EU army.

Peach, who takes over as the chairman of Nato’s military committee next year, said: “Nato is a hard power.

It has divisions. It has corps. It has aircrafts. It has ships. It has submarines. It has a command and control structure. It has a proper sense of direction and leadership both through the North Atlantic Council and the military committee.

“All of that is the offer to the people of the 29 nations who have chosen to join the alliance that creates the collective security. So, why would you duplicate it? The answer is, of course, we believe that you wouldn’t want to duplicate it”.

Post-Brexit Britain would continue to find “appropriate” ways to support approved missions that the European Union undertakes. “The capabilities we have in the UK will not go away because of Brexit, we just have to find the appropriate way in the future structure of offering those capabilities to Europe.”

He added: “We want to keep security and defence separate from any Brexit negotiations for obvious reasons. I think it is obvious that they shouldn’t be thrown into some negotiating pot.

“Our capabilities won’t change, and we can see, I can see, a future where we find a way to continue to contribute, when it is right and proper to do so, in support of European security.“

Britain already had “very close” friendships with many EU member states not in Nato, he said, and 22 of the 29 Nato members were in the EU.

Reviewing national security capability was important as “the security landscape has darkened”, he said. As well as the threat from North Korea, there was a risk from Isis and terrorist attacks in Europe, and a resurgent Russia. “The idea we can ignore Russia’s modernised military capability would be irresponsible for the Nato alliance,” he said.

On North Korea, Peach told journalists, “we have to make diplomacy work” and it was “evident that China has a very important role to play”.

Asked if, given the rhetoric around North Korea, conflict could happen by accident, he said: “Of course, there is always the risk of a misunderstanding, but one of the important roles of military relationships is to minimise that risk through understanding.” He was “absolutely sure that restraint in accordance with international law and norms will be applied”.

Peach side-stepped questions on whether he was comfortable with the cuts the military faces, after a settlement of 2% of GDP, at a time of heightened risk. “I would say adjustments rather than cuts. We have to adapt the force structure to times were are in,” he said.

He added: “We can keep historic titles, we can keep our ethos in a joint force. You can adapt ethos. We can adapt the nomenclature and the ethos. But we must accept that we need to do different things. The cuts word. It is an evolutionary process to my mind, not a revolutionary process.”

The military was “not coerced” into making efficiencies because it had agreed to them, he said. “Two per cent is what we are given by the government and we work for the government.”

Peach highlighted the development of cyber forces, and capabilities that “deliver effect at range” among his priorities.

Pay and conditions, however, must be improved to boost recruitment, he said, admitting there was a problem with attracting new recruits and that reforms were needed to the force’s lifestyle to “make it fit with the modern world”.

In the year to April 2017, 12,950 recruits joined the regular armed forces, but 14,970 service personnel left. The Royal Navy and RAF were running at about 10% short of their annual recruitment target, while the army shortfall was over 30%, according to a report commissioned by No 10. “We must get the offer to our people right, regular and reserve, “ he said.

The UK armed forces needed to develop new skills and must welcome in reservists. “The intelligence elements of the navy and the air force must adapt to those new skills, hence my plea for understanding about why reserves are so important in specialist roles in particular,” he added.