I submitted my notice to terminate service before xmas and will leave late summer. Over 3 decades I've watched the Army reduced in size and capability and whilst our budget is ok, taxpayers cash is squandered in ridiculous, expensive contracts. We're constantly being asked to do more with less and morale is the lowest I've known it to be. Add to that, quotas dominate our commanders' thinking and a sense of unity and purpose is noticeable by its absence. I'm sick of it so its time to leave.
Keep giving all money to Ukrainian, NHS does not need anything. Such a shame for the uk and this government decisions to keep supporting the Ukrainian war in the expense of uk tax payers!!!!
It's always been that way. Hell the Brits and the yanks held out as long as possible hoping Adolf would beat Stalin. Only reason they sailed the channel was because the Soviets had practically won the war singlehanded
The British army, navy and airforce doesn't have a recruitment problem. They have a major leadership and bureaucracy problem when it comes to screening applicants. I applied in 2017 for the British Army. Passed the interview and was physically and medically fit but rejected on the grounds I had eczema, which is a non issue that doesn't affect my performance whatsoever. It seems to me the military is constantly finding faults on candidates to disqualify them. It should be noted that the pay for a recruit is on par with a 5 days minimal wage job. The British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Airforce is willing to spend millions of pounds in advertising campaigns for bragging rights but are unwilling to accept candidates in because they aren't willing to pay for their training, equipment and treatment/insurance.
@@davidmccann9811 Yes, and now 14% of the UK´s Forces come from Wales, same reason. That is also why Hitler had so many recruits, nobody had jobs so joined the Army or SS for a job. Slippery slope.
Why is the British Army shrinking? Hmm good question could it be that the MOD keeps wasting money left right and center (example:The Ministry of Defence was blamed by MPs for "one of the most incompetent" supply deals of all time after auditors revealed that a fleet of helicopters costing £259m cannot be flown in cloud cover, our most modern navel ship run's on windows XP and we issued gun's to our soldiers in iraq that do not work in sandy conditions, Mod spent millions on bomb detection equipment that turned out to be just a plastic box with a led light and two metal RC aerials) and to top it off we keep giving our weapon's away!
Windows XP ! I use it all the time until Microsoft ceased to support it. If the ship captains are to ensure that it get the latest upgrade, Windows XP will sing 😀
He skirted most of her direct questions about the British Army weaknesses and weapons depletion. I get it; loyal British analyst doesn't want to spill the beans himself.
Why? The entire world population would easily fit in the grand canyon! Do not trust your primate instincts that much. They are not accurate with big numbers.
A friend of mine in the Royal Marines put it thus. "Lots of young men join the army to have an adventure or a jolly, then they get sent to Iraq or Afghanistan and as soon as the first bullet whizzes past their ears, they decide that they have had enough."
It would depend on the reason for mobilisation. If it was to protect the UK itself from invasion (similar to Ukraine situation) I think most people would be happy to fight. But if it was a mobilisation to fight a war somewhere else where the UK is not immediately at threat then it makes sense that a lot less people would agree to fight.
@Big boy Rambo and its understandable. If I moved to Afghanistan would I fight for a people and culture I am not invested in for a cause I don't believe in ? Nope.
Yes we spend a lot of money on defence but we also waste a lot of money. We’ve spent £3.2bn on the Ajax armoured vehicle programme since 2010 and so far it’s failed to deliver a single deployable vehicle. The list of MoD procurement disasters is extremely long and tiresome.
Am in complete agreement, it is the same as our air tanker fleet. How the MOD managed to spend 150m pounds for each aircraft, when their list price is 50m each.
I read only this week that the problems with the Ajax have all been rectified and the vehicle has been passed as fit for purpose or whatever tech term they use nowadays.
The Government and mod couldn't give two hoots having served for 32 years in the army over the years they've proved how much they really don't care about the forces
This clip seems to be missing the answer to the question "Why is the British Army shrinking?". The answer is the Soviet Union hasn't existed for 30 years and the UK is primarily a naval power followed by an air power, not a land one. Because of the English Channel.
Yep I don't even mind a shrinking army so long as it is sufficiently trained and equipped. Even during the height of the British Empire the army was relatively small. The UK excels at sea, in the air, and in its intelligence/cyber capabilities
Simple reason I never joined up (Both of my brothers are) is that I'm not specialised meaning I'd just be a squaddy, earning pretty much minimum wage to get shouted at and sent to fight in pointless wars. Not much of a reason to join..
I joined up and loved it, although, l just couldn't take it seriously, the NCO's were good bloke's but some of the officer's were right plonkers.still, I enjoyed my three stint! I can only recommend it to any young person.
Oh yeah the politicians have noticed that that's why they send so much money and now they'll even deplete our tank reserves to ukraine that we can't replenish as we can't fight a war and would rather make others fight for us.
Yeah true. British men only want to stab their nation in the back by going off to train their enemy's inexperienced Air Forces because that is what gets them the money.
I'd be ashamed to be a soldier these days, they're even getting 'em to patrol the beaches on the Kent coast, not to capture illegal immigrants landing, but to stop us from 'interfering'. It won't be long before they're ordered to fire on their own people.
One problem the army has (and it currently has many) is that it’s frontline kit is now ancient. The Challenger 2 entered service in 1998 (24 years old now), the Warrior IFV came into service in the mid-80s, and our main heavy artillery system, AS90, in the early 90’s. Both Warrior and AS90 are now positively ancient and many simply not operational now due to lack of spares. We still use the 423 series of vehicles. They were built in the 60’s!!! With both the RAF and Navy having very expensive and shiny projects over the past decade or so (F-35 and the carriers), the bulk of the defence budgets went to those, and the army left to wither on the vine. I recall being in Kosovo in 1999 and being issued 5 rounds of ammunition, out of date morphine and body armour that didn’t fit after Labour slashed defence spending (Labour hate the armed forces) and this problem still existed when we went to Iraq 4 years later. Just like the countries energy policy, our politicians have been kicking the defence can down the road for a couple of decades hoping that they are not in power when the pigeons come home to roost, and we can now hear the frantic flapping of wings. Just look at the current army recruitment ads. Do any of them actually mention what their primary role is? No. I also suspect that the talking head Sky News got on was trying to do damage limitation, but very badly, as he seems to have no idea what the army actually does, or at least supposed to do, which is hardly surprising as he's RAF. It will take a very long time to sort out this mess.
@@Arltratlo Much of our already depleted surface fleet is so defective and unseaworthy due to major defects in construction ( i.e engines that don`t work in warmer climates - MOD decision on installing them not builders) and without sufficient crews
When a country is actively anti-wht and anti it's own culture. Don't be surprised when those same men do not want to defend it. Also the uk army is useless. It doesn't even defend its own shores from gRapefugees. -an immigrant
I am a precision engineer and the company I work for has taken on a relatively large order for tank/ armoured personnel gun mounts. So I can confirm we are making replacement parts.
The Army has been shrinking since I joined in 1983. When I joined my Battalion in West Germany in 1984 I was part of 180,000.00 troops in BAOR alone, look at us now .
Being within NATO has also probably made the UK (and others) more complacent. Relying on alliances, particularly with the USA, should things really kick off.
Donald Trump said this 4 years ago! Everyone laughed. Now a war breaks out they are saying they Will up the spending better late then never but should of been done way before.
@Christopher Jacobs the British military has never been that big, the big difference is that the British are a fighting nation unlike the Russians. The
@@alfsmith4936 Britains army is one the most experienced in the world if not the most experienced. And we won the Falkland’s war in 1982 against the odds without any help.
We are in a shocking state, overworked, under paid, undermaned, and completely unappreciated. We are now thinking of going on hunger strike. Pensions cut twice in 10years. Theres just no hope, unless drastic action is taken.
I was in Germany when the wall came down ? There was a debate in the officers mess and we said at the time that we were moveing into a much more dangerous time its taken 30 years but the time has arrived We said at the time there would be huge cut backs and the army would shrink and my god its now just a deference force
Yes, the "nuance" of defence. The Royal Navy does absolutely nothing while England is invaded by 3 Infantry Divisions worth of military-aged men (and that's the known number of Border Force/RNLI assisted illegal immigrants) in one year.
The issue is the UK is spending 2.3% of it's GDP but it is spending it poorly or to be more accurate corruptly. For example we are buying about 56 Chinnock to replace over 60 Chinnocks. Why, well for one reason Boeing gets £1.9 billion that's it. It doesn't improve our capabilities in anyway in fact it reduced it, it is just so Boeing can make money.
Two observations: (i) the interviewee was on the defensive, reluctant to criticise the politicians; (ii) hardly surprising that Greece, a small country, spends the highest proportion of its GDP on defence. It has always had an aggressive neighbour that is currently impeding Sweden from NATO entry.
The GDP figures are incorrect. There are other countries in NATO who have an aggressive neighbour (RU) and who spend more based on GDP than the UK does - see my comment above.
Because most youngsters realise they will be useless cannon fodder for a country that instigates illegal wars, then they'll be forgotten about and left to be suffer mental health problems and perhaps homelessness.
this comentator says that russian army almost seeming not to care about casualities they have, contrary with ukraine, well we dont back up from kharkiv for no reason, that is how the tactic is made to minimize the casualities by defending well in south and concentrate to launch an offensive in donbass..
Victims of own propaganda these people. They'll keep pushing up stereotypes that are fallacies. Stereotypes like "British tech best no bar", "large Army = human wave tactics", etc. Goes to show these people prefer to live in their own bubble instead of doing a proper analysis.
the russians were routed in kharkiv. that wasn't planned, organised or even intended. kherson on the other hand was abandoned planfully because there was no prospect of sucessfully holding it. that is *not* proof russia cares much for its soldiers when it constantly shows on many other occasions how little they value the life of their soldiers
The fact is, We spend about 1% on defence. Most of the money is pensions, and they keep adding new departments under the name of “defence spending” so on paper it looks like we spend 2%, but in reality we have had a huge cut in defence and spend less than 1%
No mony for defence, no money for health, no money for education, but never mind they can still find £100 Billion to spend on a "vanity" railway project.
I read that the UK decided to include armed forces pensions in the overall figure, before that it was included in general public sector pensions,that is something like 0.5% of GDP, so under the original system the UK spend is 1.8%.
The UK’s government focusing in the financialization of the UK more and de-industrialisation of cities making the UK’s economy more vulnerable to recessions and depressions with the economy more reliant on fiscal assets. We do not have the domestic production to facilitate the arms industry and have been utter failures in de-financialization our economies.
It's currently winter and budget cuts have probably stopped the ability to buy thermal undies, a certain level of shrinkage is bound to happen. The way the money is spent should be more of the focus and not some pissing contest style comparison with other countries.
The point is HMG does NOT configure our armed forces by the threat faced but by how much they want to spend. MoD and the treasury continually cut manpower to cover up the terrible procurement choices.
I fear that presentation was very optimistic, I hear that the RA (Royal artillery) has been robbed blind for Ukraine, guns, new barrels for guns that are being fired at ten times as fast as expected and 155mm shells that BAE just can't make fast enough.
The British Armed Forces have been in a state of steady decline since 1990, the Army, RN and RAF are all in the same boat and to be frank both Tory and Labour Governments both added to the problem through short sighted vision and lack of appropriate funding and extremely poor conditions for Service Personnel. Now is the time the Government should be significantly funding the UK Armed Forces, both for Equipment and Manpower, its that simple
mi son has retired after 22 year in RA . he noticed a decline in the quality of recruits over recent years . he said : "much of Brit youth is not what it used to be ~ too many just don't want to work" so , a bit like Russia , the army seem desperate to maintain numbers by relaxing entry standards .
The Tory's emasculated the British Military during this and previous parliaments, defence review after defence review destroying what little capacity we had to wage war, the Army isnt a capable fighting force any more. Great at marching up and down the The Mall (and we are so very good at that) - but incapable of taking on a serious threat.
Not the only thing currently shrinking by the look of it. Seems to be a general tendency... well, except for the wallets of the right people, of course.
Its called shrinkflation! Just like things get smaller at Tesco, well the same things happen to the army. Money buy less weapons and ammunition... Inflation is the culprit.
@@trevor5213 Scholtz: We will give the military $100billion! Actually answer from Germany military yesterday: To get where we need to be, we need an annual budget of $300billion
@@ms3862 It's not so much the money, it's institutional problems like regulations and bureaucracy that prevent Germany from taking even the most basic initiatives to rearm itself or even to get the ammo and spare parts for what little they still have.
Poles are dumb and weak people who like to pick fights with stronger neighbouring countries. Like from 1920 to 1939 against the Germans. As soon as the Wehrmacht replaced the schwarze Reichswehr they got beaten to a bloody pulp.
We are an Island Nation our focus should be on our Navy and Airforce. Our army doesn't need to be as large as those on the continent it just needs to be advanced (best kit) and have the ability to depoly anywhere as an expeditionary force. If the army is fighting to defend Britain it means someone in the Navy and Airforce has made a big mistake. The UK army is never likely to fight a near-peer adversary on its own. I'd the UK ended up in a war with say Russia. The UK main job will be at sea. The army is likely to be given a small part of the front.
@@joso7228 yes but in Britain of all places, I've never heard of another countrys leaders being so consistently against n so untrustworthy to their own people as in Britain, it may be your perfect consumer society but for many its no longer a place worth fighting for imo, best to do what others do n migrate should other potentially better leaders invade n take over uk, the thing is, britain is such a basket case now no one wants it except migrants of course, imo, if there's a people on the earth who should be tired of wars by now its the British, been fighting for centuries n gained nothing but a trashed overpopulated country full of people who actually hate us n tell us daily how bad our history is etc, for it imo.
The Army is second in seniority but has always been treated badly, every war we have been involved shows this apart from WW1 when the “Old Contempibles” gave the Kaiser a shock and the retreat from Mons proved it. The problem with the modern army it is going the way of the Spartans. Elitism and Equality.
Why’s the army shrinking? Oh gee I don’t know, maybe young people aren’t particularly motivated to fight and die for a country they feel abandoned by??
We should be spending 3-4% and have at least 150,000 soldiers to defend the 68,000,000 people who live in the UK. Unbelievable we’re at 73,000 or going to that?! Send the MP’s out on the frontline so they can see what’s really happening!
The British army has always had very well trained troops but has always had some of the most average equipment. In its current state its not fit for purpose. Also i'm hearing the Ukrainian losses far outweigh the Russian losses so whether this guy likes it or not, Russia is winning.
Lack of money. The Treasury dont want to spend and assume no need. The Army joined in when it decided there would be no more major wars post Iraq and reverted to its post WW1habit of counter insurgency wars. This report is full of problem arguments.. The UK has little thats modern and what it has it has in tiny numbers . The RAF is weaker than its counterparts in Italy , France and Germany. It has barely enough for air defence , and lost two thirds of its strike capability . The army is goingb down to 2 armoured units - less than those countries and Poland- and is left with lots of infantry unueable except in another Afghan war - only a fool would try fighting again. The Navy has half the destroyers and 60 percent of the subs it originally decided it needed. And we have 12 F35s operational - that can fill 1/6 of the available space on the 2 carriers- largely because the Treasury refused to buy more or fsster - we invested more in the development of the F35 , but have bought , and brought fewer into service than Italy, Israel or Australia. Basically we spend a lot ,prioritise keeping bae in business, waste a lot by buying slowly, and have great troops - but little for them to fight with. And the world has noticed. Politicians mouthing off about spending 2 percent look pathetic when the US spends far more, France is moving to spend 3 percent and Poland is hesding to 4 - because thecthreats are getting bigger.. Unlike our policians who know nothing about capabiliy , or the lack of it, our allies, and their military, have now noted that the empire has no clothes, and we are now facing the military and diplomatc consequences of Treasury neglect.
One reason its shrinking is because the young are not daft enough to fight especially when its no benefit to anyone if they want to fight put the polititians in the front line let them fight it
If the British Army gets any smaller there wont be any point in having a army full stop, its not even big enough to be considered a army, its a expeditionary force, I question how effective they would be if we actually came under attack and they had to defend this Island, not because we aren't good enough (because the training is awesome and the ability of the soldiers individually are great) but because we simply don't have the numbers to effectively fight without help for NATO/allies, and I get that article 5 is a thing but as a Brit, I really don't like having to rely so heavily on other countries for help, just my opinion, doesn't mean I'm right btw, I'm no politician (thank god) lol.
well, there are some who say that being an expedtionary force was exactly what the politicians were aiming for the last 20 odd years. nobody really believed russia would be so aggressive/reckless/delusional/stupid to invade a neighboring european country again
@@embreis2257 I know that's what they was aiming for and I'm not completely against the expeditionary force concept, but i am against the cuts upon cuts and poor equipment etc, and also the really small size, i get we don't need loads of troops but the current size of the British army is too small, for my liking at least, but that's just one opinion among many, but i back my logic, until i have new information/perspective at least, i agree with the Russia point though, i certainly didn't think that was going to happen.
This is a psychological operation to make the British people accept the need to increase defence spending. Got a funny feeling some people are going to get very rich soon!!
The Cardinal Question that Generals and Air Marshalls and Admirals need to be asked is this: If Argentina invades the Falklands in April of this year, will the British Armed Forces be able to respond as they did in 1982? Can Britain defend itself and its territories?
Yep if anything it would be even more conclusive. Firstly the islands themselves are more heavily fortified now, whereas they were basically defenceless before. Also, Argentina no longer has the capability anymore to launch an offensive on the islands. So, yeah.. not a chance
To use a football analogy, the UK military strength in 1982 was premier league and the Argies were League 1 level. Today, the UK is mid table championship but the Argies are in the conference league. If the UK can lease enough cruise ships to get the soldiers there, things should be OK.
The point Sky News miss about the size of the Army is that it relates to redundancy. The British Army has no redundancy. The comment about technology making up for size is misguided. The "technology" line has merely been spouted to hide the hollowing out of the Army in general. Compare a Warfighting division of 2015 to what a division will look like in 2025. I wish Sky would actually pick up on the pertinent points relating to the size of the Army and hold the government to account.
He is talking about how the west fight: Leaving their allies behind and unnecessarily get away abruptly so that the ennemies can slaughter their allies.
Yep, the US abandoned the Tibetans, the Marsh Arabs, the Kurds ams and the Afghans. They were nice enough to leave lots of equipment for the Taliban too.
Sean Bell 4:35: "This is some of the best training in the world that we'll be providing to OUR Ukrainian soldiers." How can our government continue to deny this is a war by proxy for NATO?
![TEEDEE TADA - DIAMOND NARAKORN X LEGO LYKN [Special Dance Performance]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QgtZedFeumA/mqdefault.jpg)
I submitted my notice to terminate service before xmas and will leave late summer. Over 3 decades I've watched the Army reduced in size and capability and whilst our budget is ok, taxpayers cash is squandered in ridiculous, expensive contracts. We're constantly being asked to do more with less and morale is the lowest I've known it to be. Add to that, quotas dominate our commanders' thinking and a sense of unity and purpose is noticeable by its absence. I'm sick of it so its time to leave.
Not fighting for the fourth industrial revolution with Patrick Sanders then. Fair enough
quitter
Keep giving all money to Ukrainian, NHS does not need anything. Such a shame for the uk and this government decisions to keep supporting the Ukrainian war in the expense of uk tax payers!!!!
so the West is doing what the west is accusing Russia of doing, the old switch a roo.
It's always been that way. Hell the Brits and the yanks held out as long as possible hoping Adolf would beat Stalin. Only reason they sailed the channel was because the Soviets had practically won the war singlehanded
The British army, navy and airforce doesn't have a recruitment problem. They have a major leadership and bureaucracy problem when it comes to screening applicants. I applied in 2017 for the British Army. Passed the interview and was physically and medically fit but rejected on the grounds I had eczema, which is a non issue that doesn't affect my performance whatsoever. It seems to me the military is constantly finding faults on candidates to disqualify them. It should be noted that the pay for a recruit is on par with a 5 days minimal wage job.
The British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Airforce is willing to spend millions of pounds in advertising campaigns for bragging rights but are unwilling to accept candidates in because they aren't willing to pay for their training, equipment and treatment/insurance.
The only reason the British Army survived the 80s was because they heavily recruited in Northern towns that had been devastated by Thatcher.
Low on cash but sending millions of pounds worth of Tanks and other stuff to Ukraine.
@@HOLLASOUNDShow it should be
@@davidmccann9811 Yes, and now 14% of the UK´s Forces come from Wales, same reason.
That is also why Hitler had so many recruits, nobody had jobs so joined the Army or SS for a job.
Slippery slope.
Why lie? I was born with Spina bifida and yet I still got into the armed forces 🤦♂️🤡
Why is the British Army shrinking? Hmm good question could it be that the MOD keeps wasting money left right and center (example:The Ministry of Defence was blamed by MPs for "one of the most incompetent" supply deals of all time after auditors revealed that a fleet of helicopters costing £259m cannot be flown in cloud cover, our most modern navel ship run's on windows XP and we issued gun's to our soldiers in iraq that do not work in sandy conditions, Mod spent millions on bomb detection equipment that turned out to be just a plastic box with a led light and two metal RC aerials) and to top it off we keep giving our weapon's away!
Windows XP ! I use it all the time until Microsoft ceased to support it. If the ship captains are to ensure that it get the latest upgrade, Windows XP will sing 😀
I remember this. I then went to live in Egypt and they were using them there. I tried to tell them but they didn't understand.
He skirted most of her direct questions about the British Army weaknesses and weapons depletion. I get it; loyal British analyst doesn't want to spill the beans himself.
He doesn't actually - he was in the RAF.
It astonishes me that the entire population of the British army could fit in Wembley
Britain ruled the world with an army even smaller. It’s destroyed the Russian empire with just a few thousand.
They could fit inside Old Trafford never mind Wembley.
Google Patrick Sanders AND the fourth industrial revolution
The entire population of the British army could create permanent world peace if they applied Maharishi's Technologies of Consciousness
Why? The entire world population would easily fit in the grand canyon! Do not trust your primate instincts that much. They are not accurate with big numbers.
Just a guess, but I would imagine the army is in a similar state to the rest of British society.
very true
Seems like all of the west rn
your so right
It's simple.
Poor pay poor conditions and being extremely short-sighted !!
they are woke
And life expectancy these days ... who can afford to pay pensions like that.
@@MrSimonw58 that is a part of the problem. As this is included in the 2.3% of GDP.
A friend of mine in the Royal Marines put it thus. "Lots of young men join the army to have an adventure or a jolly, then they get sent to Iraq or Afghanistan and as soon as the first bullet whizzes past their ears, they decide that they have had enough."
youtu.
be/MrbS_T-HwRk
Russian Colonialism in Jamaica: Truly Horrible
If Britain did a mobilisation I reckon 90% of the fighting age men will say "up yours".
It would depend on the reason for mobilisation. If it was to protect the UK itself from invasion (similar to Ukraine situation) I think most people would be happy to fight. But if it was a mobilisation to fight a war somewhere else where the UK is not immediately at threat then it makes sense that a lot less people would agree to fight.
And protect what ? Im.igrants ? Cos they wont
Mass immigration will full the country with those that would not fight for it anyway.
@@acefreaky2988 they will say "up yours"
@Big boy Rambo and its understandable. If I moved to Afghanistan would I fight for a people and culture I am not invested in for a cause I don't believe in ? Nope.
Yes we spend a lot of money on defence but we also waste a lot of money. We’ve spent £3.2bn on the Ajax armoured vehicle programme since 2010 and so far it’s failed to deliver a single deployable vehicle. The list of MoD procurement disasters is extremely long and tiresome.
Am in complete agreement, it is the same as our air tanker fleet. How the MOD managed to spend 150m pounds for each aircraft, when their list price is 50m each.
They need some consultants ho, ho, ho
Warrior upgrade 0.5bn spent...not proceeding
I read only this week that the problems with the Ajax have all been rectified and the vehicle has been passed as fit for purpose or whatever tech term they use nowadays.
People need sacking for these idiot inept money wasters,defense politicians need to gey sacked !
Because no one wants to fight for a corrupt government?
The Government and mod couldn't give two hoots having served for 32 years in the army over the years they've proved how much they really don't care about the forces
As a rocker, I can't stand the MOD, wearing their smart suits and riding around on their little vespa scooters.
@@hmartinspliff
that must have been a str0ng 0ne
They only remember Service Veterans on 11 November for 1 day but will waste months celebrating LGBT+ "pride", where's the priorities then
This clip seems to be missing the answer to the question "Why is the British Army shrinking?". The answer is the Soviet Union hasn't existed for 30 years and the UK is primarily a naval power followed by an air power, not a land one. Because of the English Channel.
Yep I don't even mind a shrinking army so long as it is sufficiently trained and equipped. Even during the height of the British Empire the army was relatively small. The UK excels at sea, in the air, and in its intelligence/cyber capabilities
@@Joker-yw9hlbut our fleets not that big compared others is it ?
Simple reason I never joined up (Both of my brothers are) is that I'm not specialised meaning I'd just be a squaddy, earning pretty much minimum wage to get shouted at and sent to fight in pointless wars. Not much of a reason to join..
AIastair
the army is f0r heIping defend aIIies and t0 make the w0rid think the uk matters s0meh0w
I joined up and loved it, although, l just couldn't take it seriously, the NCO's were good bloke's but some of the officer's were right plonkers.still, I enjoyed my three stint! I can only recommend it to any young person.
Wise man
I would give my life for my family, but not for the proxy wars this politicians like to test their weapons on.
7.
I served 15 years in the army and not once did I use or wear a piece of kit that impressed more than my hexi burner.
Maybe British men don't want to be killed fighting unjust wars for the financial benefit of share holders?
Amen 🙏 🙏
Oh yeah the politicians have noticed that that's why they send so much money and now they'll even deplete our tank reserves to ukraine that we can't replenish as we can't fight a war and would rather make others fight for us.
😂
well said! and bang on!!
Yeah true. British men only want to stab their nation in the back by going off to train their enemy's inexperienced Air Forces because that is what gets them the money.
I'd be ashamed to be a soldier these days, they're even getting 'em to patrol the beaches on the Kent coast, not to capture illegal immigrants landing, but to stop us from 'interfering'. It won't be long before they're ordered to fire on their own people.
That's hilarious. These soldiers should all be lined up against a wall for that.
-an immigrant.
People are sick of fighting other peoples battles
im not
Join the army and fight other people's battles and enemies 😂😂
too top heavy with officers plus a lot of "working class" have realised this country ain't worth fighting or dying for.
They should stop voting for the bloody Tories then , shouldn't they?
National service needs to come back
@Obvious Troll So that politicians can start more unjustified and illegal wars like Iraq, to send young British men to die abroad?
The army is not struggling for recruits. the reduced numbers is down to cost.
This woke mess of a country isn't worth protecting.
One problem the army has (and it currently has many) is that it’s frontline kit is now ancient. The Challenger 2 entered service in 1998 (24 years old now), the Warrior IFV came into service in the mid-80s, and our main heavy artillery system, AS90, in the early 90’s. Both Warrior and AS90 are now positively ancient and many simply not operational now due to lack of spares. We still use the 423 series of vehicles. They were built in the 60’s!!!
With both the RAF and Navy having very expensive and shiny projects over the past decade or so (F-35 and the carriers), the bulk of the defence budgets went to those, and the army left to wither on the vine. I recall being in Kosovo in 1999 and being issued 5 rounds of ammunition, out of date morphine and body armour that didn’t fit after Labour slashed defence spending (Labour hate the armed forces) and this problem still existed when we went to Iraq 4 years later.
Just like the countries energy policy, our politicians have been kicking the defence can down the road for a couple of decades hoping that they are not in power when the pigeons come home to roost, and we can now hear the frantic flapping of wings.
Just look at the current army recruitment ads. Do any of them actually mention what their primary role is? No. I also suspect that the talking head Sky News got on was trying to do damage limitation, but very badly, as he seems to have no idea what the army actually does, or at least supposed to do, which is hardly surprising as he's RAF.
It will take a very long time to sort out this mess.
The F-22 Raptor was introduced in 1997 and it's arguably the most capable 5th Generation fighter jet.
dont forget, 50% of the UK carrier force are broken!
@@Arltratlo Much of our already depleted surface fleet is so defective and unseaworthy due to major defects in construction ( i.e engines that don`t work in warmer climates - MOD decision on installing them not builders) and without sufficient crews
@@jimgroves3020 maybe it didnt help a lot to lose 2 wars with Iceland with your RN!
It could have something to do with not recruiting and soldiers leaving in embarrassment
No, it's not a problem with recruitment. The army are cutting roles.
And the politically correct brigade insisting on using handbags instead of rifles in case the soldiers hurt anyone when at war!!
@@kincaidwolf5184also recruitment, obesity rates are soaring etc
When a country is actively anti-wht and anti it's own culture. Don't be surprised when those same men do not want to defend it.
Also the uk army is useless. It doesn't even defend its own shores from gRapefugees.
-an immigrant
@@the-based-jew6872 yep, England is trying to throw away its culture and history to appear more modern and dare I say it “woke”
I am a precision engineer and the company I work for has taken on a relatively large order for tank/ armoured personnel gun mounts. So I can confirm we are making replacement parts.
What a waste of money in all honesty.
@@LoomsOfLore nothing wasteful about spare parts.
So is it cost increases? Like what’s the deal
The Army has been shrinking since I joined in 1983. When I joined my Battalion in West Germany in 1984 I was part of 180,000.00 troops in BAOR alone, look at us now .
We could have a larger army if we set higher tax levels.
We had 55,000 troops in Germany (and yes, I was there). The total army strength at the time was 155,000.
@@hb1338 i agree we should pay 100 percent tax i hate having money in the online bank too many number i cant count im dyslexic
@@ChrisByers100 I don’t think by the eighties it was even that size, I remember 39000 being spoken about at the time.
@@TheDarksideoftheMoon360 That´s Dyscalcula, dyslexic is for mixing up letters and not numbers, kept me out of Bomb Disposal, Whew! ;)
The British Army wouldn't last 5 minutes against Ukraine, never mind Russia.
Being within NATO has also probably made the UK (and others) more complacent. Relying on alliances, particularly with the USA, should things really kick off.
Donald Trump said this 4 years ago! Everyone laughed. Now a war breaks out they are saying they Will up the spending better late then never but should of been done way before.
@Christopher Jacobs the British military has never been that big, the big difference is that the British are a fighting nation unlike the Russians. The
@@fitbunny7182 Britain hasn't won a war without help from others in centuries. They like to think they're fighters but they cry when they get a graze.
@@alfsmith4936 Britains army is one the most experienced in the world if not the most experienced. And we won the Falkland’s war in 1982 against the odds without any help.
@@fitbunny7182 lol
We are in a shocking state, overworked, under paid, undermaned, and completely unappreciated. We are now thinking of going on hunger strike. Pensions cut twice in 10years. Theres just no hope, unless drastic action is taken.
I was in Germany when the wall came down ? There was a debate in the officers mess and we said at the time that we were moveing into a much more dangerous time its taken 30 years but the time has arrived We said at the time there would be huge cut backs and the army would shrink and my god its now just a deference force
I agree & the powers that be never ask the people with the boots on the ground
Yes, but we enjoyed a massive Peace Dividend, didn't we?
A Boy Scout troop can take on the German army
All,and more for the immigrants
Because the country dosnt feel like home anymore. I’ll fight on my own property not for the country or Tory government.
Yes, the "nuance" of defence. The Royal Navy does absolutely nothing while England is invaded by 3 Infantry Divisions worth of military-aged men (and that's the known number of Border Force/RNLI assisted illegal immigrants) in one year.
My understand is, that they're letting in a foreign population the size of Coventry or Cardiff every year. Ridiculous.
If the military is teamed up with the invading "immigrants". Then let it fall
All replies censored.
4:32 Says it all really, Ukrainian soldiers have become NATO soldiers.
Ask David Cameron that question,,,He destroyed our Military and the proud history behind our Armys
Good.
Proud of what exactly.... murdering people for political advantage??
Bad!!
@Talorc MacAllan best thing she ever did.
@Talorc MacAllan Falklands war was really tight.
If she fucked up there tories would of been gone for good.
The issue is the UK is spending 2.3% of it's GDP but it is spending it poorly or to be more accurate corruptly. For example we are buying about 56 Chinnock to replace over 60 Chinnocks. Why, well for one reason Boeing gets £1.9 billion that's it. It doesn't improve our capabilities in anyway in fact it reduced it, it is just so Boeing can make money.
The MPs will no doubt of purchase shares before hand
Fascinating. Failed to say how the U.K. intends to replace its depleted main battle tanks, since we no longer have the manufacturing capability.
Challenger 3 is currently being built in the UK😂
We do not need tanks ,outdated military hardware.
Buy them off the USA.
We got some Abrams if your in the market.
Why do we need tanks, everyone seems to think - 'tAnK sTrOnG - mOrE tAnK gOoD' 🤪
The whole country is slowly being dismantled and exported
Two observations: (i) the interviewee was on the defensive, reluctant to criticise the politicians; (ii) hardly surprising that Greece, a small country, spends the highest proportion of its GDP on defence. It has always had an aggressive neighbour that is currently impeding Sweden from NATO entry.
The GDP figures are incorrect. There are other countries in NATO who have an aggressive neighbour (RU) and who spend more based on GDP than the UK does - see my comment above.
what politcians
Because most youngsters realise they will be useless cannon fodder for a country that instigates illegal wars, then they'll be forgotten about and left to be suffer mental health problems and perhaps homelessness.
this comentator says that russian army almost seeming not to care about casualities they have, contrary with ukraine, well we dont back up from kharkiv for no reason, that is how the tactic is made to minimize the casualities by defending well in south and concentrate to launch an offensive in donbass..
Victims of own propaganda these people. They'll keep pushing up stereotypes that are fallacies. Stereotypes like "British tech best no bar", "large Army = human wave tactics", etc. Goes to show these people prefer to live in their own bubble instead of doing a proper analysis.
the russians were routed in kharkiv. that wasn't planned, organised or even intended. kherson on the other hand was abandoned planfully because there was no prospect of sucessfully holding it. that is *not* proof russia cares much for its soldiers when it constantly shows on many other occasions how little they value the life of their soldiers
The fact is,
We spend about 1% on defence.
Most of the money is pensions, and they keep adding new departments under the name of “defence spending” so on paper it looks like we spend 2%, but in reality we have had a huge cut in defence and spend less than 1%
No mony for defence, no money for health, no money for education, but never mind they can still find £100 Billion to spend on a "vanity" railway project.
@@paulag7634 £100 billion to go from London to Birmingham 20minutes faster
@@hiyorisarugaki1830 And I bet the tickets won't be cheap.
Send in the rainbow brigade, the feminist battalion and the refugeee squadron.
That would be a good way to clean the population
I read that the UK decided to include armed forces pensions in the overall figure, before that it was included in general public sector pensions,that is something like 0.5% of GDP, so under the original system the UK spend is 1.8%.
Government con
After he started saying Ukraine has had minimal casualties I just stopped listening to him.
I would never fight for the UK or it’s people. Many of Gen Z (not all or a majority I said many don’t fuss) feel the same.
The UK’s government focusing in the financialization of the UK more and de-industrialisation of cities making the UK’s economy more vulnerable to recessions and depressions with the economy more reliant on fiscal assets. We do not have the domestic production to facilitate the arms industry and have been utter failures in de-financialization our economies.
What on earth are they talking about. Britain is not going to war with Russia!
Exactly
It's currently winter and budget cuts have probably stopped the ability to buy thermal undies, a certain level of shrinkage is bound to happen.
The way the money is spent should be more of the focus and not some pissing contest style comparison with other countries.
The point is HMG does NOT configure our armed forces by the threat faced but by how much they want to spend. MoD and the treasury continually cut manpower to cover up the terrible procurement choices.
Procurement choices are an absolute mess. End up paying x10 to x20 times for the equivalent thing compared to China and Russia
@@jasonbaxter3658 Well, I guess its the same in all of UK government projects. HS2 is a good example of that.
I fear that presentation was very optimistic, I hear that the RA (Royal artillery) has been robbed blind for Ukraine, guns, new barrels for guns that are being fired at ten times as fast as expected and 155mm shells that BAE just can't make fast enough.
Because the public debt is increasing on an overburdened and unproductive economy.
Because it's too cold outside... Okay wrong thread.
The British Armed Forces have been in a state of steady decline since 1990, the Army, RN and RAF are all in the same boat and to be frank both Tory and Labour Governments both added to the problem through short sighted vision and lack of appropriate funding and extremely poor conditions for Service Personnel. Now is the time the Government should be significantly funding the UK Armed Forces, both for Equipment and Manpower, its that simple
Cold weather does lead to shrinkage…
This usually doesn't happen I swear
It's an island, seawater is cold, it shrinks like a turtle.
'I was in the pool!!!' George Costanza
mi son has retired after 22 year in RA . he noticed a decline in the quality of recruits over recent years . he said : "much of Brit youth is not what it used to be ~ too many just don't want to work" so , a bit like Russia , the army seem desperate to maintain numbers by relaxing entry standards .
The Tory's emasculated the British Military during this and previous parliaments, defence review after defence review destroying what little capacity we had to wage war, the Army isnt a capable fighting force any more. Great at marching up and down the The Mall (and we are so very good at that) - but incapable of taking on a serious threat.
Not the only thing currently shrinking by the look of it. Seems to be a general tendency... well, except for the wallets of the right people, of course.
How much we rely on technology really does sound like "How much we rely on the USA to come and save us"
Typhoon: British led European project
Challenger 2: British
NLAW: British
Ajax: British
I could go on
@@nathanieong6212 Ajax 🤣🤣🤣
Check out Al Murray Britain never been defeated
@@chrispetty9168 tell that to the afghans
We are part of NATO we rely on each other. That's the whole point of Nato
Does that mean if there is serious civil unrest the government will bring in troops from the alliance.?
Its called shrinkflation! Just like things get smaller at Tesco, well the same things happen to the army. Money buy less weapons and ammunition... Inflation is the culprit.
With the enemy at the gate and NATO basically at war, Poland is the only country making a serious effort to rearm itself.
I guess the others will follow, when it's to late! Like Scholz
@@trevor5213 Scholtz: We will give the military $100billion! Actually answer from Germany military yesterday: To get where we need to be, we need an annual budget of $300billion
@@ms3862 It's not so much the money, it's institutional problems like regulations and bureaucracy that prevent Germany from taking even the most basic initiatives to rearm itself or even to get the ammo and spare parts for what little they still have.
Poles are dumb and weak people who like to pick fights with stronger neighbouring countries. Like from 1920 to 1939 against the Germans. As soon as the Wehrmacht replaced the schwarze Reichswehr they got beaten to a bloody pulp.
We are an Island Nation our focus should be on our Navy and Airforce. Our army doesn't need to be as large as those on the continent it just needs to be advanced (best kit) and have the ability to depoly anywhere as an expeditionary force.
If the army is fighting to defend Britain it means someone in the Navy and Airforce has made a big mistake.
The UK army is never likely to fight a near-peer adversary on its own.
I'd the UK ended up in a war with say Russia. The UK main job will be at sea. The army is likely to be given a small part of the front.
Because why would someone sign up to go fight a politicians war
erm... thats been true in every nation since the rise of civilization
@@joso7228 yes but in Britain of all places, I've never heard of another countrys leaders being so consistently against n so untrustworthy to their own people as in Britain, it may be your perfect consumer society but for many its no longer a place worth fighting for imo, best to do what others do n migrate should other potentially better leaders invade n take over uk, the thing is, britain is such a basket case now no one wants it except migrants of course, imo, if there's a people on the earth who should be tired of wars by now its the British, been fighting for centuries n gained nothing but a trashed overpopulated country full of people who actually hate us n tell us daily how bad our history is etc, for it imo.
Should of kept them Harriers.
The army has been shrinking in size since blair was p.m,
So slow had clap for sky news who appear to have just found out.
It collapsed under the Tories. Don't try and pretend this is due to Blair.
Oh gee I wonder why our army is really small now, what a profound and puzzling question we have on our hands
PMSL! They are mocking themselves....
The general said our Ukrainian men... cool 😎 stuff honestly
Sock puppet detected.
Yeah, I noticed that too. How can they keep lying that this is not a war by proxy for NATO.
it is shrinking because real men are smart, and smart men wont die for a woke country that discriminates against them!
maybe they no longer want to die/risk their lives for a country that dosent care once their service is finished?
The Army is second in seniority but has always been treated badly, every war we have been involved shows this apart from WW1 when the “Old Contempibles” gave the Kaiser a shock and the retreat from Mons proved it. The problem with the modern army it is going the way of the Spartans. Elitism and Equality.
Why is everything in the UK shrinking. answer starts with a T..
Trigonometry
Tired?
People are realising they are just canon fodder.
Ukraine: we need armored cars, Russians are crazy neardentals...
UK: simulations!!!
UK needs to recruit more Gurkhas from Nepal! They have proven themselves in Iraq and Afghanistan.
If this continues there won't be anyone left to defend this country.
THE POOR DON'T WANT TO BE SENT TO DIE FOR THE RICH, SIMPLE.
Why’s the army shrinking? Oh gee I don’t know, maybe young people aren’t particularly motivated to fight and die for a country they feel abandoned by??
I'm so ashamed of Canada we don't even make the list at all!!!!! We need to step up our defence game
They alright no one would dare attack Canada, too close to USA😄
Eh!
Who is invading Canada? Why not spend money on your citizens welfare?
@@jdc3636 the only possible scenarios could come from the likes of China and North Korea
Canada is buying 15 type26 frigate’s powerful warships
We should be spending 3-4% and have at least 150,000 soldiers to defend the 68,000,000 people who live in the UK. Unbelievable we’re at 73,000 or going to that?! Send the MP’s out on the frontline so they can see what’s really happening!
The British army has always had very well trained troops but has always had some of the most average equipment. In its current state its not fit for purpose. Also i'm hearing the Ukrainian losses far outweigh the Russian losses so whether this guy likes it or not, Russia is winning.
good reality check and free of propaganda nonsense! (unlike the MSM of the west this last 11 months)
Lack of money. The Treasury dont want to spend and assume no need. The Army joined in when it decided there would be no more major wars post Iraq and reverted to its post WW1habit of counter insurgency wars.
This report is full of problem arguments.. The UK has little thats modern and what it has it has in tiny numbers . The RAF is weaker than its counterparts in Italy , France and Germany. It has barely enough for air defence , and lost two thirds of its strike capability . The army is goingb down to 2 armoured units - less than those countries and Poland- and is left with lots of infantry unueable except in another Afghan war - only a fool would try fighting again. The Navy has half the destroyers and 60 percent of the subs it originally decided it needed. And we have 12 F35s operational - that can fill 1/6 of the available space on the 2 carriers- largely because the Treasury refused to buy more or fsster - we invested more in the development of the F35 , but have bought , and brought fewer into service than Italy, Israel or Australia.
Basically we spend a lot ,prioritise keeping bae in business, waste a lot by buying slowly, and have great troops - but little for them to fight with. And the world has noticed. Politicians mouthing off about spending 2 percent look pathetic when the US spends far more, France is moving to spend 3 percent and Poland is hesding to 4 - because thecthreats are getting bigger.. Unlike our policians who know nothing about capabiliy , or the lack of it, our allies, and their military, have now noted that the empire has no clothes, and we are now facing the military and diplomatc consequences of Treasury neglect.
why we give Ukraine £2.75 billion when we need £3 Billion investment in military hmmm thats a bit hmmm innit hmmsters
Was that a good deal 🤔
One reason its shrinking is because the young are not daft enough to fight especially when its no benefit to anyone if they want to fight put the polititians in the front line let them fight it
A magnificent display of double talk and non answering the question.
So many experts
Wow….. amazing
If the British Army gets any smaller there wont be any point in having a army full stop, its not even big enough to be considered a army, its a expeditionary force, I question how effective they would be if we actually came under attack and they had to defend this Island, not because we aren't good enough (because the training is awesome and the ability of the soldiers individually are great) but because we simply don't have the numbers to effectively fight without help for NATO/allies, and I get that article 5 is a thing but as a Brit, I really don't like having to rely so heavily on other countries for help, just my opinion, doesn't mean I'm right btw, I'm no politician (thank god) lol.
well, there are some who say that being an expedtionary force was exactly what the politicians were aiming for the last 20 odd years. nobody really believed russia would be so aggressive/reckless/delusional/stupid to invade a neighboring european country again
@@embreis2257 I know that's what they was aiming for and I'm not completely against the expeditionary force concept, but i am against the cuts upon cuts and poor equipment etc, and also the really small size, i get we don't need loads of troops but the current size of the British army is too small, for my liking at least, but that's just one opinion among many, but i back my logic, until i have new information/perspective at least, i agree with the Russia point though, i certainly didn't think that was going to happen.
It's very embarrassing that Canada didn't even make that list.
Who would die in war for Charlie .
You'd be bonkers and keep that rabble in parliament .
After the World War 2, Germany was not even allowed to have a functioning army. Why cry now?
Years of TORY Defence cuts......
Well the fact they have to pay for their own equipment is a clear indication money is being spent int he wrong areas.
This is a psychological operation to make the British people accept the need to increase defence spending. Got a funny feeling some people are going to get very rich soon!!
LMAO a psyop
True
We don't have enough men... all our men died in ww2
The Cardinal Question that Generals and Air Marshalls and Admirals need to be asked is this: If Argentina invades the Falklands in April of this year, will the British Armed Forces be able to respond as they did in 1982? Can Britain defend itself and its territories?
You'd have to say in the example of Argentina, yes.
Her allies will do the job as they did 1982.
Argentina are in financial ruin so yes
Yep if anything it would be even more conclusive. Firstly the islands themselves are more heavily fortified now, whereas they were basically defenceless before. Also, Argentina no longer has the capability anymore to launch an offensive on the islands. So, yeah.. not a chance
To use a football analogy, the UK military strength in 1982 was premier league and the Argies were League 1 level. Today, the UK is mid table championship but the Argies are in the conference league. If the UK can lease enough cruise ships to get the soldiers there, things should be OK.
The point Sky News miss about the size of the Army is that it relates to redundancy. The British Army has no redundancy. The comment about technology making up for size is misguided. The "technology" line has merely been spouted to hide the hollowing out of the Army in general. Compare a Warfighting division of 2015 to what a division will look like in 2025. I wish Sky would actually pick up on the pertinent points relating to the size of the Army and hold the government to account.
Finally a sensible comment.
All started with Austerity.
Whole Britain is shrinking
Uk has been reduced to an approval stamp of America in west Europe
The British Army wouldn't fill Wembly Stadium.
He is talking about how the west fight: Leaving their allies behind and unnecessarily get away abruptly so that the ennemies can slaughter their allies.
Yep, the US abandoned the Tibetans, the Marsh Arabs, the Kurds ams and the Afghans. They were nice enough to leave lots of equipment for the Taliban too.
Could do with recruiting a ready made army arriving in Dover daily.
Tbh why not they want to work, theyre all men, we could pay them less😅
👏👏👏 solve the "refugee crisis" overnight.
We could also send the brain-dead football hooligans.
@@codswallop164 Cannon Fodder i hope.🤗
@@nosequiters they will create a union and then strike
it would have been nice if they had actually answered the quetion in the title.
Like this is a bad thing. Not being able to die for nowt.
Sean Bell 4:35: "This is some of the best training in the world that we'll be providing to OUR Ukrainian soldiers." How can our government continue to deny this is a war by proxy for NATO?
Okay it is, who cares, Russia started it
On another note, the Challenger 2 is the most incredible looking tank. It’s gorgeous
maybe, after the Abrams, Leopard and Leclerc. the Koreans probably build a better tank too
@@embreis2257 If we ever need info on the korean stuff we'll just ask poland.
There getting a fuckton.