THE UK must mimic Nato's poster-boy Poland and build an army that is ready to fight against a ruthless Russian military, a former British general has warned.
If it fails to do this now, British forces will suffer "catastrophic" losses on the WW3 battlefields against Putin's advancing army if the despot invades Nato territory.
Three British ex-army chiefs told The Sun that as it stands, the UK's "second class" army would be "steamrolled" by Russian forces if a major war erupted in the next two years.
They said two decades of relative peace in the post-Cold War era has meant the UK - like much of European Nato - has stopped preparing for WW3 and "run the armed forces to the ground".
But as Nato turns 75, the former commanders warned the threat to the military alliance from Russia has "never been higher".
They said once the guns stop in Ukraine, a "vengeful" Putin could invade Nato's eastern flank if he smells weakness and turn the Baltics into a bloodbath.
And the only way for the UK and Nato to avoid WW3 is by having larger, better equipped and highly trained armed forces that would make Putin think twice about invading the Baltics.
They insisted the UK must mimic Poland by bolstering and modernising its army if Nato has a chance of stopping the despot from trying another Hitler-style land grab.
Former tank commander Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon told The Sun: "The UK really needs to catch up. Our conventional deterrence is not up to the mark and we've allowed our ability to fight global wars to drift.
"As a tank commander in the First Gulf War, we put an armoured division into the field but we couldn't even put a third of that into the field today.
"What we're seeing in Ukraine is that mass is really important. I think ourselves and the other Nato countries in Europe like Germany and France have really got to get our acts together."
Mr de Bretton-Gordon warned that the world is facing a new era of deadly advanced weapons and if Nato doesn't keep up with Russia, Putin will take advantage of the alliance's weakness and strike.
Retired British Army General Sir Richard Barrons agreed and warned that the UK's "second class" army is not ready to fight against an "angry and resurgent" Russian military or play their part in Nato.
The former Joint Forces chief told The Sun: "If we put today's British army in front of an enemy like Russia, they would not be ready and would take massive casualties.
"The military - the Armed Forces, Navy and Air Force - know that they are not ready to fight against a mobilised and aggressive Russia as part of Nato."
But it will be impossible get the UK's military to where it needs to be without government investment in the armed forces and the defence industry, General Barrons said.
He pointed to how Defence Secretary Grant Shapps warned last month that the UK is in a "pre-war world", yet the Treasury had no major announcement on defence spending in the Spring Budget.
If we put today's British army in front of an enemy like Russia, they would not be ready and would take massive casualties
General Sir Richard Barrons
On top of that, the government has no plans to increase the size of the army from its current level of about 74,000 full-time troops, down from 102,000 in 2006.
General Barrons said the UK must follow Poland's suit and drastically modernise its armed forces if it wants to stand a chance against Putin.
He said Poland has become Nato's "poster child" and is putting the UK to shame, with the nation increasing its troop and tank numbers and investing a massive 4 per cent of its GDP in its defence.
It has spent more than $16 billion (£12.7 billion) on tanks, missile interceptor systems and F-16 fighter jets in recent months - most of which were bought from the US and South Korea.
Poland's army has also drastically expanded in response to the Russian threat, with more than 175,000 troops standing by for an attack - up from 100,000 eight years ago.
It hasn't stopped there.
The nation's defence budget this year will be a record 137 billion zlotys (£27 billion) or 4 per cent of GDP on defence - the highest proportion in all of Nato.
Britain falls short of that with the government spending 2.07 per cent at a time when the military desperately needs investment, General Barrons said.
A second former British Army General, who wished to remain anonymous, agreed and told The Sun that Britain must "mimic Poland in modernising and investing in the military".
He warned the UK's army, which has shrunk by nearly 30 per cent since 2000, is now "too small" to pose any real deterrence power against Russia.
The former General, who served in Afghanistan, warned: "If Britain wants to be a serious player in Nato and if we want to be taken seriously by the US, which is our principle military ally, then we need to invest properly in defence.
"We need to be closer to 4 per cent of GDP on defence than 2 per cent but I fully accept that means making cuts elsewhere."
He warned the British army is now "second class" and lacks the personnel, modern equipment and ammunition to be a serious player in Nato.
The military expert added: "The army is now too small to go up against an adversary like Russia.
"We're not spending enough money on ammunition, we've got Royal Artillery units without guns and tank sheds that are no longer filled with tanks.
"It's a whole world of problems. If we had to go to war in the next couple of years against Russia, we would be stuffed."
THE North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is a political and military alliance of countries from North America and Europe.
It was founded in 1949 to counter the Soviet Union with Cold War tensions rising.
Among articles in its found treaty is the principle of collective defence - the idea that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all of them.
Nato takes decisions by consensus but the political and military strength of the United States means that it is by far the most powerful country in the alliance.
Its nuclear arsenal is seen as the ultimate security guarantee.
Nato has 31 members - most of them European nations, plus the United States and Canada.
The newest member is Finland, which joined last April in reaction to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Sweden applied to join along with Finland but is waiting for Hungary to ratify its application as the final major step before membership.
General Barrons said the situation the UK finds itself in is "ridiculous".
He pointed to how the government is warning the public about living in a dangerous pre-war era that we can't ignore, but in the next breath saying "we can't afford to do anything about it".
General Barrons said: "That's not going to work. We cannot live in a situation where our security is somehow unaffordably unaffordable.
"This is ridiculous."
And the rest of Nato do not fare much better than the UK.
Nearly 20 countries including France, Germany, Italy and Spain fail to pay the required 2 per cent of their GDP on defence.
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned that Europe is not ready for a devastating escalation of the war in Ukraine should Putin prove victorious.
The veteran politician gave a chilling message, saying Europe has entered a "pre-war era" worringly similar to 1939 - when Hitler prepared to invade Poland.
General Barrons agreed and said European Nato members must bolster their defences rather than looking at each other to foot the bill for the alliance's defence.
He said while Europe squabbles over who should pay what, Russia has increased its defence spending to 6 per cent of GDP.
General Barrons warned: "There's a gap between what Nato says it needs and the transformative path it needs to take to deter Russia and what nations are providing.
"With the exception of Poland, most nations in Europe including the UK have armed forces that are not ready to deter Russia.
"Britain needs an army that is frankly better than Poland's, that is capable of deploying quickly to support our Nato allies and able to take advantage of digital age technology."
Most nations including the UK have armed forces that are not ready to deter Russia.
General Sir Richard Barrons
General Barrons warned that if the Nato members don't invest more heavily on defence and modernise their militaries, enemies like Russia will beat them in developing advanced deadly weapons technologies.
He said: "The risk is that Nato essentially sits on its hands and its opponents gain that edge on the battlefield."
And to make matters worse, if Donald Trump does snatch the keys to the White House in November, there are fears he could fulfil his threat and pull the US out of Nato.
That would leave Europe flailing to pick up the slack without the US's military might and assets worth $3.8trillion.
But even if Trump doesn't make a jaw-dropping return to the presidential office, General Barrons warned that the consensus in Washington is that Americans can't foot the bill for European security in the face of threats like China.
General Barrons said: "We are beginning to enter a period where the transatlantic settlement that has underpinned Nato for the past 75 years is going to unravel.
"What that actually means is that just as we go back to confronting Russia, the major paymaster is going to do less.
"So not only do we have the wrong armed forces for this era, we are no longer going to be able to rely as much on the US."
Without the US, Nato would stifle amid the loss of a huge contribution.
The alliance's annual budget and programmes come to around £2.7billion - with the costs shared.
Between 2021 and 2024, the US has been in the top two contributors, paying just over 16 per cent.
General Barrons urged the UK government to invest more heavily in the armed forces and defence industry - not in a few years when Putin's advancing forces pose a direct threat.
He warned: "Unless our politicians focus on fixing the armed forces, we do run the risk of not being able to play our part in Nato of delivering effective deterrence to an angry and resurgent Russian military by the time the Ukraine war finishes.
"And that would be a colossal mistake."
It comes after Assistant Chief of Staff of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), Brigadier General Gunnar Bruegner warned the "clock is ticking" earlier this month.
Without mentioning Russia by name, he said Nato must prove it is "ready" for any threats to its security.
His sobering words came amid a flurry of recent warnings from top military chiefs and policymakers over the threat of full-scale war with Russia in the coming years.
