Britain has just three years to prepare for war, Army chief warns – as he vows to triple force’s fighting power

THE new Army chief warned Britain has three years to prepare for war.

General Sir Roly Walker said there was “just enough time” to tool up to deter enemies such as Russia.

The ex-SAS boss said: “We have just enough time to prepare."

The Sun understands his target date is late 2027.

He insisted war was not inevitable but warned that Britain’s enemies were “increasingly aligned”.

In his first speech as Chief of the General Staff, he said: “We must restore credible hard power to underwrite deterrence.”

The former Irish Guards officer has inherited the smallest Army for more than 300 years – with just 72,500 trained troops.

He vowed to triple its fighting power – with better weapons but no extra troops – so that, “any British land force will be able to destroy a force at least three times its size”.

Gen Walker said commanders had struggled to come to terms with the fact they were no longer a “big army”.

And he warned threats from Russia, China and Iran would converge in 2027 and could "detonate" each other.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Rusi Land Warfare Conference he said Russia would "come roaring back to get their vengeance" against the West.

He said Iran was on track to get a nuclear bomb and China wanted the option to invade Taiwan by that date.

The former Director of Special Forces said: “We have struggled to shake a big army mindset where some still believe that raw troop numbers alone determine fighting power.

“That is out of date.

“We are, in fact, a medium-sized army and we should embrace this.”

Under his plan, a British brigade of some 7,000 soldiers would be able to beat a Russian force like its 18th Combined Arms Army of 20,000 troops.

He claimed they would be able to do it with more accurate and powerful weapons.

He said: "We will sense twice as far, decide in half the time, and deliver effects over double the distance with half as many munitions.

"Our Ukrainian partners are beginning to do this with great results now, marrying cheap and expendable sensors and effectors to smart software that is coming from British coders."

It came as his boss, the Chief of Defence Staff, warned “we are not as strong as we could be”.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said “historic underinvestment” had taken its toll on the Army's weapons, training, people and technology.

Defence chiefs fear Russia will rebuild its forces within the next five years, after massive losses in Ukraine.

Defence Secretary John Healey warned Putin "won't stop in Ukraine" if he wins.

And China’s President Xi has ordered his forces to be ready to take Taiwan by 2027 – raising fears in Europe that America will refocus its forces in the Pacific.

Labour have vowed to increase the defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, but Sir Keir Starmer refused to say when.