Britain’s ‘laughably’ small tank fleet would be wiped out in two weeks by Putin’s forces in a war with Russia, ex-senior officer warns

The British ‘laughable’ small tank fleet would be wiped out by Vladimir within two weeks Putin‘s forces in a war with Russiawarned an ex-senior officer.

Lt. Col. Stuart Crawford, who served in the military for 20 years, added that the US no longer saw Britain as a top-tier military power, thanks to the precarious nature of the armed forces.

He told The times that the new Challenger 3, a tank that would come on the market in 2030, was a ‘decent vehicle’, but that not enough would be built.

‘We currently plan to purchase just 148, which is embarrassingly few considering that at the height of the Cold War, not so long ago, the British Army’s Royal Armored Corps could have hoped to purchase around 900 MBTs in (main fighter aircraft). tanks),” he said.

Writing in the UK Defense Journal, Lieutenant Colonel Crawford, who is now a defense analyst, added that this number was only sufficient to support two armored regiments and reserve and training vehicles.

Britain’s ‘laughable’ small tank fleet could be wiped out within two weeks by Vladimir Putin’s forces in a war with Russia, an ex-senior officer has warned (photo: a Challenger 2 tank in 2003)

Lt. Col. Stuart Crawford (pictured, in 2018), who served in the military for 20 years, added that the US no longer saw Britain as a top-tier military power, thanks to the precarious nature of the armed forces.

He pointed out that Ukraine has lost around 3,000 tanks in about two years, meaning Britain’s quota of vehicles could last just a matter of weeks.

He said: ‘If there is one lesson to be learned from the current conflict in Ukraine, it is that you need a lot of stuff, to use the correct technical term, and 148 tanks is clearly not going to cut it.’

The former senior officer’s stern warning comes after General Sir Richard Shirreff said Britain might not be able to field an army of 5,000 due to damaging shortages.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today program claims that ten years of austerity have ‘decimated’ the British armed forces, which could have deployed a war brigade of 20,000 soldiers as recently as 1997.

“There is a critical shortage of ammunition,” the former deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe added. ‘Of course, the bottom of the barrel has been scraped to be able to supply everything that can be sent to Ukraine, but that needs to be replaced.’

The Ministry of Defense has been contacted for comment.

Last month, an ex-general warned that Putin could bombard Britain with dozens of the same missiles he is using to bomb Ukraine – and that Britain could do nothing to stop them.

According to General Sir Richard Barrons, the weapons could reach Britain in just 90 minutes, traveling at a speed of 600 miles per hour.

The retired British army officer estimated that in an attack, Russia would fire the missiles in waves of 60 to 90 at a time.

Speak with The sunGeneral Barrons warned that Britain would currently be unable to repel such an attack.

Vladimir Putin pictured in Beijing, China, on May 16. Lt. Col. Crawford pointed out that Ukraine had lost about 3,000 tanks to Russia in about two years, meaning the British quota of vehicles could only last a matter of weeks.

A Russian Yars rocket expected to launch in October 2022. Putin could target Britain with dozens of the same missiles he is using to bomb Ukraine – and there is nothing Britain could do to stop them, an ex-general has claimed

According to General Sir Richard Barrons, the weapons could reach Britain in just 90 minutes, traveling at a speed of 1,000 kilometers per hour (pictured).

He said: ‘For the time being, Britain does not have the air and missile defenses that Ukraine has. We haven’t needed it.

‘The kind of missiles that fall on Kiev could also fall on London. And Kiev’s air defense is much, much better.

“Even a quite old Russian cruise missile, I’m going to quote the Kh-101 released from an aircraft over western Russia, arrives in London 90 minutes later with a 500 kilogram explosive warhead and an accuracy of two meters. So pick your door in Downing Street.”