The UK reported the army's inability to last longer than a year in the event of war

Deputy head of the UK Defense Ministry Alistair Carnes said that the British army in case of war will be destroyed in six months to a year. This was reported by The Times newspaper on December 4.

Karnes noted that the number of the active army of the kingdom has been reduced to 71,347 people. According to the colonel, this is the lowest figure since the Napoleonic era.

In turn, the country's Defense Minister John Healy warned that over the next year, the number may decrease even more, the publication pointed out.

Colonel Carnes said that in the event of a large-scale war, Britain will have to "quickly generate mass", otherwise its army will be destroyed within a year.

"Our army, for example, at current casualty rates, would become obsolete as part of a broad multinational coalition within a period of six months to a year," The Times quoted him as saying.

Earlier, on November 22, the Financial Times (FT) wrote that the British army will not be able to withstand a major war in Europe. The publication specified that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had commissioned a strategic review of the country's defense, inviting a host of experts led by Lord George Robertson, former NATO secretary general.

Prior to that, on Nov. 11, the head of the British Air Force, Richard Knighton, warned of the decline of aviation in the country. In his opinion, the UK will not have air superiority in future wars and will have to fight for control against an "ever-improving adversary."

In October, British Defense Secretary John Healey admitted that the kingdom's armed forces are not ready for war. He said that the British Armed Forces had been consistently downsized and suffered from chronic underfunding.