Entire UK needs to step up to deter threat posed by Russia, Britain's military chief will warn
There needs to be a "whole of society approach" to build national resilience in the face of increasing threats and uncertainty, the head of Britain's Armed Forces will warn.
Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Rich Knighton will urge "our whole nation" to step up to ensure Britain can continue to function in a crisis at his first annual Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) lecture.
It comes as the head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, otherwise known as MI6, will state that Russia poses an "aggressive, expansionist and revisionist" threat in her first speech since taking office.
Blaise Metreweli replaced Richard Moore in October, becoming the first female chief of MI6 – a role known by the codename C – in its 116-year history.
BFBS Forces News has looked at the key themes of both speeches, including Ukraine, defence spending and the new Defence Technical Excellence Colleges.
National resilience
ACM Sir Rich will detail how the long-term success of the Armed Forces relies on reconnecting with society by making defence and resilience part of the national conversation and "a higher national priority for all of us".
"The situation is more dangerous than I have known during my career, and the response requires more than simply strengthening our Armed Forces," he is expected to say.
"A new era for defence doesn't just mean our military and government stepping up – as we are – it means our whole nation stepping up."
He will also state that Britain's Armed Forces must be ready to fight and win.
"But deterrence is also about our resilience to these threats; it's all about how we harness all our national power, from universities, to industry, the rail network to the NHS," the Armed Forces chief will say.
"An 'all-in' mentality. And that will require people who are not soldiers, sailors or aviators to nevertheless invest their skills – and money – in innovation and problem-solving on the nation's behalf."
Defence Technical Excellence Colleges
An engineer by trade, ACM Sir Rich will reference the recent Royal Academy of Engineering and National Engineering Policy Centre report, which highlights an engineering skills gap, as well as recruitment and retention challenges, as an example of a fragile system which needs to be reinvigorated to ensure the nation can continue to function in a crisis.
He will speak about the need to work with industry and young people to find gaps and build pathways to address them.
As part of the speech, ACM Sir Rich, who joined the Royal Air Force as a university cadet in 1988, will announce £50m for the new colleges, which will offer thousands of short courses, so that defence employers can upskill new hires and existing staff more quickly.
"Five colleges in England, and others across the UK, will gain specialist status and major new funding to train people in the skills needed to secure new defence jobs, and help deliver on the ambitions set out in the Strategic Defence Review," he will explain.
Defence spending
Speaking about defence spending, the Chief of the Defence Staff will say: "I find myself in a position that none of my predecessors during my career have faced, looking at the prospect of the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War.
"And that is because the price of peace is increasing."
Russia-Ukraine war
In his speech, he will suggest that there is an increased probability of Moscow invading a Nato country.
"The war in Ukraine shows Putin's [Russia's president] willingness to target neighbouring states, including their civilian populations, potentially with such novel and destructive weapons, threatens the whole of Nato, including the UK," he will add.
"The Russian leadership has made clear that it wishes to challenge, limit, divide and ultimately destroy Nato, in former president Medvedev's words, aspiring to 'the disappearance of Ukraine and the disappearance of Nato – preferably both'."
Elsewhere, the newly installed MI6 chief will say that Ukraine will continue to get the support it deserves, while saying that the Kremlin is spreading chaos.
"The export of chaos is a feature, not a bug, in the Russian approach to international engagement, and we should be ready for this to continue until Putin is forced to change his calculus," Ms Metreweli will say.
Technology
MI6's boss will also highlight the need to ramp up the use of technology to tackle threats to UK security, including terrorism and information warfare.
"Mastery of technology must infuse everything we do," Ms Metreweli, who has spent the majority of her career in operational roles in the Middle East and Europe, will say.
"Not just in our labs, but in the field, in our tradecraft, and even more importantly, in the mindset of every officer.
"We must be comfortable with lines of code as we are with human sources, as fluent in Python as we are in multiple languages."
Uncertainty
ACM Sir Rich, the former station commander at Royal Air Force Wittering, will close his speech by repeating the need for action as the uncertainty we face grows greater.
"We are heading into uncertainty, and that uncertainty is becoming more profound, both as our adversaries become more capable and unpredictable, and as unprecedented technology change manifests itself," he will conclude.
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