Whole-of-society effort needed to deter Russia threat, armed forces chief says

"Sir Richard Knighton said the country's security "cannot be outsourced to the armed forces" and "requires a whole-of-society response", including harnessing UK universities and manufacturing. While the chief of the defence staff suggested there was only a remote chance of Russia directly attacking the UK, he told an event at the Royal United Services Institute that so-called hybrid attacks showed the threat was worsening."

""Every day the UK is subject to an onslaught of cyber-attacks from Russia and we know that Russian agents are seeking to conduct sabotage and have killed on our shores," he added. At the same time, Russia's military had become a "hard power [which] is growing quickly". While Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine had been a strategic failure, he said, "we should be under no illusions that Russia has a massive, increasingly technically sophisticated, and now highly combat-experienced military"."

UK families may be called on to accept greater sacrifice as the nation seeks to deter potential confrontation with Russia. Security cannot be delegated solely to armed forces and requires a whole-of-society response that harnesses universities, manufacturing, energy and the NHS. Hybrid threats are worsening, including cyber-attacks, suspected mapping of undersea cables, sabotage and lethal operations on UK soil. Russia’s military has grown into an increasingly technically sophisticated and combat-experienced hard power despite setbacks in Ukraine. The UK therefore needs greater industrial capacity, workforce recruitment from schools and universities, and political emphasis on defence industry importance.

Read at www.bbc.com