Sky News: Britain would not be able to defend itself against an air attack

Sky News warned on Thursday, citing military sources, military experts and veterans, that because of post-Cold War defense spending cuts, Britain would be unable to defend cities or critical infrastructure in the event of a massive missile or drone attack.

According to Sky News, military commanders are believed to be exploring options for restoring the UK's ability to protect critical national infrastructure – such as power plants, military bases and government buildings – from the type of attacks that Ukraine has suffered. However, any credible “integrated air and missile defense” plan would cost billions of pounds and would likely require a further increase in defense spending beyond the proposed increase to 2.5%. GDP, announced recently by the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

“Can Britain defend its cities if an air missile attack were to occur? No. Does the public know what to do in the event of an air attack? No… Put simply, are we defended? No,” says Sky News, which wants to keep anonymity senior defense source.

John Baker, who served at the RAF radar base in Norfolk as an aircraft identification and recognition officer during the Cold War, speaks in a similar vein. Asked whether British air defenses were prepared for war during his time in service, he replied: “We trained. There were drills in case of war. There were small drills every few months or so, and once or twice a year there were large drills.” NATO exercises, the epicenter of which was this place – because this radar was closest to Europe.

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While noting that he was not up to date with modern air defense capabilities, he expressed doubts whether Britain could cope with a major attack now. “If hundreds of drones and cruise missiles came in, I don't think we could safely take them all out,” he said.

Sky News notes that the UK has very capable air defense systems, but they are insufficient to protect the wide range of critical infrastructure across the country, or to defend troops deployed on overseas operations. The situation is made worse by the increase in the quality and quantity of missiles and drones developed by hostile countries such as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

He points out that the RAF currently has only nine frontline jet squadrons, and although modern jets such as the F-35 and Typhoon are much more advanced than their predecessors, by the end of the Cold War Britain had 30 such squadrons. The Royal Navy's six Type 45 destroyers are equipped with the country's only ballistic missile defense systems. But according to a navy spokesman, only three of these ships are “available for operations,” with one currently in the Middle East. The Army has six Sky Saber ground-based air defense systems, each capable of shooting down multiple missiles, but at least two of them are currently deployed overseas.

Jack Watling, an expert at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank, described Britain's air defense as “woefully inadequate” in an interview with Sky News. He points out that although there are a number of NATO countries between the UK and Russia, in many of them air defense has also been reduced since the collapse of the Soviet Union in order to save money.

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– We always hear the defense ministry's argument that gaps in our own capabilities are acceptable because we are part of the alliance. It's a bit like when you go to a party where everyone is expected to bring their own alcohol, you say to yourself, “Well, other people will come, so I won't bring any alcohol.” If everyone takes this approach, there will simply be nothing to drink. And if we look at NATO as a whole, we are dealing with an overall shortage (in air defense), he said.