Britain issued horror NATO warning as Russia steps up WW3 threats

A former army officer has warned that the UK “will only be able to meet a tenth of its NATO commitment ” unless defence spending is increased . Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Crawford said Britain is underprepared to combat a potential attack from hostile powers, including Russia . “If they were to attack, we’ve got very little to defend against them,” he told the Express . “Our commitment to NATO, for example, is two armoured divisions and a corps headquarters. As things stand, we would be lucky to put an armoured brigade into the field at short notice - that is about a tenth of our commitment to NATO.” The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, combined with simultaneous conflicts in the Middle East, makes projecting an image of strength more important than ever, Lt Col Crawford added. “We live in dangerous times,” he said. “The old Latin saying, ‘Si vis pacem, para bellum’, ‘if you want peace, prepare for war’, is very apposite.” The warning comes after a string of drone attacks on cargo vessels in the Black Sea, off NATO members Romania and Bulgaria, and a series of airspace incursions since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. The bloc’s Article 5 mutual defence guarantee has not been triggered, but military figures have sounded the alarm over potential escalation into armed conflict involving UK troops. It comes as General Sir Roland Walker, head of the British Army, said the nation "is going to need" its soldiers during a speech last week. He told 700 troops: "There was a time when our nation didn't want to think of a time when it would need its soldiers to fight in a war ... Ultimately, we are going to need them to back us, to back you to do the one thing that you do that nobody else gets to do, and that is to take the fight to the enemy." Prime Minister Andy Burnham also agreed with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky that Moscow "has no interest in peace", amid heightened global tensions following Donald Trump's decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel in the face of rising fuel prices. Lt Col Crawford said Moscow is testing Western responses, including through Russian aircraft switching off their transponders, forcing allies to scramble Typhoons “at vast expense”. “They’re testing our reaction,” he said, adding that Russia has mapped the undersea cables linking the UK and Europe , though built-in redundancy means cutting one would not take the internet down. He also claimed that some domestic demonstrations, protests and “quasi-terrorist attacks” are sponsored by hostile states, saying: “We’re facing a real heightened risk.” Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has acknowledged that Russia poses the biggest threat to the country’s security, and last week announced that British troops will join a major exercise in Poland in November , designed to prepare for delivering security guarantees to Ukraine once the war ends. Mr Streeting also linked the threat from Russia to Labour’s decision to “deliver the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War”. Under the Defence Investment Plan, spending is set to rise to almost £ 80 billion a year by 2029, lifting the UK to 2.7% of GDP, the highest proportion in 30 years, according to the Ministry of Defence. The Government says it will set a target date to reach 3% at next year’s spending review and has committed to NATO’s 3.5% target by 2035. But commentators, including Lt Col Crawford, have called for a more urgent increase, advocating for an immediate reallocation of finances to meet impending threats. “We go to war with what we have, not what we’d like to have,” he said. “A number of military commentators have said that war is likely in the next three to five years. I don’t subscribe to that, but what if they’re right? We are very badly prepared.” The Express has contacted the Ministry of Defence for comment.