UK military chief warns of most dangerous period since the Cold War

Britain's Chief of the Defence Staff has said the UK faces greater risks than at any time since the Cold War, warning that Russia is raising the stakes through airspace incursions and other forms of pressure. Sir Richard Knighton said this was the most dangerous period he had known in his working life. He made the remarks as the government prepares to publish a long-delayed Defence Investment Plan in the coming weeks.

Sponsored

Sir Richard said there had been as many incursions by Russian strategic aircraft into UK airspace in the first five months of this year as in the whole of 2025. He warned that Russia risks "crossing a line" and said the country is probing the UK's traditional military defences as well as using cyber activity, sabotage and assassination attempts. His comments came in an interview on Thursday morning and were framed as a warning about the scale of the threat facing the UK.

The defence chief said the armed forces need to be ready for longer wars, rather than the short, contained conflicts that have shaped planning in recent decades. He said drones and autonomous systems are likely to become increasingly important in future warfare. He also said he was confident ministers understood the threats and were increasing spending, but added that the challenge was to make difficult trade-off decisions and to spend more on defence faster.

The warning comes at a sensitive moment for UK defence policy. The Defence Investment Plan is expected to set out how new equipment and defence infrastructure will be funded over the next decade, after repeated delays. It was first due in autumn 2025, and Defence Secretary John Healey said earlier this week that the prime minister is determined to publish it before a Nato summit on 7 July.

Sponsored

That timetable gives the government only a short window to show how it intends to respond to the security picture described by the military leadership. Sir Richard linked his comments to last year's Strategic Defence Review, which he described as a "call to arms". He said the review reflected a need to adapt to a more dangerous environment and to prepare for a wider range of threats.

The remarks also follow criticism from the former defence secretary, Lord Robertson, about the UK's diminished capabilities, adding to pressure on ministers to explain how they will fund the armed forces' needs. The broader significance is that the warning places defence spending, readiness and deterrence at the centre of the UK's immediate policy debate. It also reflects the continuing impact of Russia's war in Ukraine on European security planning, with UK military leaders saying the armed forces must be prepared for a more prolonged and complex conflict environment.

What remains unclear is how much extra funding ministers will commit, what trade-offs they are prepared to make, and whether the Defence Investment Plan will be published before the Nato summit. The next key point to watch is whether the government sets out a clearer timetable and funding package in the coming days.

#UKdefence #RichardKnighton #Russia #NATO #securitywarning

Sponsored