Britain's Shrinking Military - From Cold War Colossus to Cash-Strapped Shadow

[Music] many of you have probably noticed that some politicians seem pretty Keen to involve nato in a some sort of shooting war with Russia over Ukraine obviously no one is proposing a nuclear war but rather a conventional conflict but apart from the United States our NATO countries even remotely able to conduct such a war with the forces at their disposal after the U.S Britain has always been the number two NATO power in terms of military strength and capability but are the British Armed Forces configured for large-scale conflict with Russia as a historian I can say no because the last time Britain fielded military forces specifically designed to counter Russian aggression in Europe was in 1991 at the tail end of the Cold War the year the Soviet Union collaps an awful lot has changed for the British armed forces in over 30 years as successive governments have cut defense spending and the size of the Armed Forces confident that no large-scale conventional war in Europe would ever be fought again so let's compare the different sizes the different parts of the British Armed Forces today with the military that was specifically designed to counter Soviet aggression three decades ago by any measure the figures are shocking and should probably convince most reasonable people that engaging in a massive conventional war with a country as large as Russia is not desirable and perhaps even possible and this is not just me saying it but also plenty of retired Admirals generals and Air Marshals and a few serving ones too not to mention the United States itself which commented very recently the Britain's armed forces are simply too small to do the job anymore none of this is a reflection of the brilliant men and women who serve in the British Armed Forces this video is not a criticism of any of them it is rather are the policies that have led to this current state of affairs so let's begin with the all-important subject of cash the use of taxpayers money to fund the military now it reveals that successive governments since the end of the Cold War have preferred to cut expenditure on defense matters and put the money into other things this may be correct or it may not be however in 1991 the defense budget was 4.11 in 2021 this had shrunk to just two and a half percent the Royal Navy has always been the backbone of Britain's defenses and indeed Britain has always maintained a large Navy and a small regular army however the situation today is we have a small regular army and an equally small Royal Navy this can be a problem because we are an island nation we import most of what we need to survive the Navy is also supposed to project power all over the world via its ships submarines and aircraft the Navy of 1991 was specifically configured to counter Soviet aggression in Northern Waters the Navy today has shrunk to a shadow of its former self in 1991 the Royal Navy had 63 000 full-time personnel the figure today is about thirty thousand of course fewer Personnel are required because the fleet has shrunk to such a small number of ships in 30 years of Defense Cuts in 1991 the Royal Navy fielded a fleet of 29 submarines today it has only 10. now no matter how capable modern submarines may be and there are certainly much more capable than those of the 1980s and 90s no one can seriously consider 10 submarines can do the job of 29 former vessels with such a tiny Fleet how many of those submarines would be in refit having maintenance done at any one time a handful of active submarines as with any other vessel aircraft or vehicle cannot be everywhere at once fewer equals less coverage and less impact on the battle aircraft carriers one area where things seem to be improving in 1991 the Royal Navy fielded three small aircraft carriers carrying the famous sea Harrier jet today the Royal Navy has two enormous Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers the bill for each of these vessels over 3 billion pounds but few aircraft to actually equip them having only 26 f-35b Lightnings the ships designed to accommodate 24 to 36 such aircraft each though enormously capable aircraft and enormously capable ships how long could they remain in action before combat losses maintenance issues pilot losses and fatigue Etc removed them from the battle the new carriers need destroyers and frigates to protect them and also to carry out range of tasks across the fleet from Patrol and escort duties anti-aircraft and anti-missile warfare and anti-submarine warfare and so on in 1991 the Royal Navy possessed an astounding 51 destroyers and frigates today that number has shrunk to just 18 vessels which even taking into account advances in missile technology ship design anti-submarine Warfare etc etc is still far below the number the Royal Navy actually wants for example the type 45 class guided missile destroyer the Royal Navy's most modern class of Destroyer numbers only six vessels originally the Royal Navy was to have had 12 but the government of the day cut 50 percent of the vessels to save money these are just a few of the facts and figures regarding the Royal Navy turning to the British Army in 1990 to 91 the Army was very large and designed to counter a Soviet attack across the north German Plains and into Scandinavia [Music] Manpower stood at 153 000 Personnel today the Army has shrunk by 30 years of endless amalgamations and cuts to just 86 000 Personnel Plus around thirty thousand or so in the Army Reserve the renamed territorial Army who are being asked increasingly to do the same job as regular personnel and go on Long overseas tours with regular forces any large-scale war with Russia will involve tanks lots and lots of Tanks as something the war in Ukraine has shown absolutely abundantly in 1991 the British army had some 1200 tanks including about 800 tanks deployed in Western Germany today the Army has only 223 Challenger 2 tanks in service and reports Show recently in the press that many of these vehicles are unserviceable and not fit for purpose an army that is so small cannot sustain large-scale operations for very long before casualties mechanical issues wear and tear Etc force it to start taking troops from elsewhere Replacements would presumably have to come from the Army Reserve but the number of fit available and willing reservists who could be sent into action to support the regulars is probably well below the government's Target of 30 000 which in itself is a tiny number for example the territorial Army in 1991 numbered 73 000 Personnel almost the size of the regular army today the government would need to call back to the colors the regular reserve a pool of trained former regular soldiers contractually committed to recall in times of emergency however the regular Reserve stands at around 20 000 liable Personnel again a tiny pool looking at all the other aspects of the British army from artillery guns to Rocket systems to armored personnel carriers to all sorts of different types of equipment we see that they have very good equipment but not very much of it and too few people for the amount of commitments the British army is already involved in around the world the Royal Air Force would of course play a vital role in any conventional war with Russia and her allies but again the service is but a shadow of its cold war size and strength in 1990 the Royal Air Force numbered 90 000 Personnel that is 5 000 more people than the current British Army today the Royal Air Force is down to just over 33 000 personnel the jet fighter Force has dramatically diminished in 1989 the RAF had an astounding 850 Frontline attack Jets of all types this figure is down to only 137 typhoons and of that number 22 a 2C trainers that don't go to war so realistically the raf's Frontline combat strength amounts to just 115 aircraft it also operates a small number of f-35bs for the Royal Navy's Fleet air arm factoring in nutrition mechanical issues pilot issues how would the RAF squadrons remain operational in the event of all-out war and for how long these are problems that could not be solved in the short term the equipment is highly expensive and highly complex and air crew require years of very careful and expensive training so these are just a few comparisons that can be made between the British armed forces of the early 1990s when as I said it was designed to counter Soviet aggression in northern Europe and the Armed Forces of today that many politicians would like to see sent into some kind of combat situation against Russia especially as any action against the Russians would be very similar to those kind of military operations that were planned against the Soviet Union in the 1960s 70s 80s and early 90s foreign [Music] thanks for watching please subscribe and share and also visit my audiobook Channel War stories with Mark Felton you can also help to support both of my channels at PayPal and patreon details in the description box below foreign

Channel: Mark Felton Productions

Views: 667,335

Keywords: Mark Felton, Defence cuts, Royal Navy, British Army, RAF, Ukraine

Id: Y7JxykuyxBo

Length: 10min 44sec (644 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 19 2023