Current government policy is for the army to shed almost 10,000 posts, reducing its size from a target of 82,000 to just 72,500 troops by 2025 – by far the smallest in hundreds of years. But Ben Wallace warned that without a guarantee of significant new funding, total defense spending is forecast to fall below Nato’s key target of 2% of national income by the second half of the decade. His intervention, in an interview with Sky News, is significant because he has yet to publicly state whether he is backing Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership contest. Politics Live: Sunak accused of ‘demanding’ in TV debate – and Truss has her job offer taken back? Asked who he was backing, the senior cabinet minister said: “I’ll see what happens in the discussions. I know them both very, very well…I’m interested in what they say on defence.” Mrs Truss, the foreign secretary, has said she will increase defense spending to 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of the decade. Mr Sunak, by contrast, has said he is opposed to “arbitrary targets” and, while he has said he sees Nato’s 2% target as “a floor not a ceiling”, the former chancellor said only that British defense spending would rise . to 2.5% “over time”. Wallace made a clear pitch to the two prime ministerial candidates on the need for extra defense funding after the £24 billion spending increase he secured from Boris Johnson over the four years to 2024. “I think defense needs more money because the threat has increased and I’m under my leadership,” he said, speaking on Monday while returning to the UK from a trip to Slovakia. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 0:38 Wallace: More money needed for UK defense by 2025 Currently, UK defense spending is 2.28% of national income “and falling”, Mr Wallace said. “We are projected to be below 2% probably in 2026 – it could be (financial year) 2025-26 or 2026-2027. We’re going down. We’re going from the first (highest defense cost) in Europe to the eighth in Europe and they keep falling.” As for how an increase in defense spending to 3% of GDP by 2030 might affect the size and capabilities of the army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, Mr Wallace said some equipment programs would likely be bought faster. He also said the military would carry out a review of the lessons that can be learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine into vulnerabilities in the UK’s defense that need fixing. This is to include the requirement for more long-range artillery systems. Image: Ukrainian soldiers train in the UK The UK and other Western powers also need better weapons to counter drones, defend their airspace from incoming missiles and ensure their ground forces – such as tanks and infantry – are able to operate in a modern battlefield, where threats include electronic jamming and cyber attacks as well as more traditional bombs and bullets. “I think you will see an increase in the size of the military, but not necessarily where people think,” Mr. Wallace said, noting that all military mass must be “relative.” Read more: ‘No one is listening’ Mothers and wives of missing Russian servicemen face relentless battle for answers British fighter pilots ready for Russian threat to UK, RAF chief tells Sky News “The lessons from Ukraine are … better to have small but perfectly formed armored infantry units … than to have many vehicles without any of these protections because they just get killed on a modern battlefield.” This is what happened to Russia’s much larger army when it tried and failed to capture Kyiv in the first weeks of the invasion of Ukraine. Mr Wallace – who may or may not still be in the job in September – stressed that it would be up to army chiefs to set out future force plans.
