UK Defence Chief Emphasises Whole-of-Society Effort Amid Rising Russian Threats
Sir Richard Knighton, chief of the defence staff, has highlighted the need for a whole-of-society approach to UK deterrence, calling for involvement beyond the armed forces, including universities and manufacturing sectors.
He warned of worsening hybrid threats from Russia, which is capable of cyber and sabotage activities, citing an instance where a Russian spy ship was mapping undersea cables near UK waters. Despite the strategic failure of its invasion of Ukraine, Russia remains a growing hard power with a large, technically sophisticated, and combat-experienced military.
Knighton stressed that UK resilience should focus on building industrial capacity to rearm itself and its allies, as well as broadening participation in defence industries. There is also a recognized need to attract more people into defence roles and encourage schools and parents to promote careers in the defence sector.
In response to skills gaps identified by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the government announced £50 million for new defence technical excellence colleges.
Meanwhile, France and Germany have introduced voluntary national service plans following prior UK discussions on compulsory service, which had faced criticism from Labour as a gimmick.
Knighton cautioned about the prospect of the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War, with the government targeting defence and security expenditure to reach 5% of GDP by 2035.
