Chief Of General Staff Promises A 'More Dangerous Army'

The head of the Army says the service will be "changed completely" by the Integrated Review announced earlier this year.

The Chief of the General Staff was speaking at the RUSI Land Warfare conference, the annual UK meeting of the British Army, its international partners, allies and the defence industry.

This year's theme – 'integrated for operation today and warfighting tomorrow' –  looks at combat on the future battlefield, discussing how the British Army and its allies can integrate efforts as they modernise their forces.

General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith told the conference that despite cutting nearly 10,000 soldiers the service will become a "harder, sharper, more dangerous Army". 

"Soldiering has always been about evolution and successful armies have always adapted to changing threats and technology," he said.

"Given the unrelenting pace and the acceleration of change today, the Army stands on the cusp of another such transformation.

Watch: Integrated Review: What were the key announcements?

"Possibly the most significant one since mechanisation in the 1930s-1940s, when we did away with hay nets and moved to fuel cans and we accelerated manoeuvre to the speed of the combustion engine.

"Well, this transformation from mechanisation to digitisation is going to be even more significant, from hardware to software."

General Carleton-Smith said the transformation is not just "going to accessorise how we do our business" but "it promises to change it completely".

"Whilst at the same time, rendering legacy systems obsolete ever more rapidly.

"It's not too early to get a sense of what's happening as artificial intelligence, ubiquitous encryption and sensors, and quantum science transform warfare," he added.

The Defence Command Paper, published in March, gave more information on the military's future following the Integrated Review. 

Among a number of details, it said 148 Challenger 2 Army tanks will be upgraded to 'Challenger 3s' as part of a £1.3bn investment in the UK's armoured capability, with the remaining vehicles from the fleet being retired.

The Army's oldest CH-47 Chinooks will also be retired, with newer variants of the helicopter coming in, it was announced.