No soldiers.. A crisis hits the British army

The British armed forces are facing a shortage of more than 4,000 soldiers, after the retirement of 16,000 soldiers last year.

16 thousand soldiers retired

The British newspaper “Mirror” revealed that more than 16,000 military personnel retired in the past year, and this is the largest indicator during the past six years.

The British newspaper pointed out that the British army reserves suffer from a shortage of personnel.

number of the soldiers

Currently, the British army consists of 25,000 people and is short of 5,000 people.

There are only 12,000 people who have since joined the British Armed Forces, 5,000 fewer than there were in 2021.

Complaints of poor salaries

The British newspaper pointed out that many British military personnel complain about the small salary and poor living conditions.

The British Chief of Staff, Patrick Sanders, confirmed earlier that supplying Ukraine with Challenger 2 tanks would weaken the army.

"Moving these tanks will make us temporarily weaker, there is no doubt about that," Sanders was quoted as saying by the New York Times.

Moscow runner

The British government recently announced plans to send "Challenger 2" tanks to Kyiv to enhance its ability to repel the Russian invasion, a decision that experts and analysts believe "will not change the balance of war", due to the small number of these mechanisms, but it involves internal political dimensions in Britain, and "Paving the way for a second stage in the Western rivalry with Moscow."

The most prominent problem with Rishi Sunak's government decision is that dispensing with 14 tanks of this type "may weaken the British army," and replacing them or manufacturing others for Ukraine means increased spending on the military in light of the country's economic crisis due to inflation.

It may take several months for the tanks to be delivered to Ukraine, but the Conservative Party government wants through the decision to strengthen street confidence in “Brexit”, especially since opinion polls show a clear increase in the number of Britons who “regret” leaving the European Union, and see it as a “mistake” that they prefer to return to.

Waiting for the budget

The Ministry of Defense is awaiting the "spring statement" of British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt within a few months, to make it clear the possibility of increasing military spending in the next year's budget. In addition, the increase itself, if decided, will be based on a review of the army's strategy in light of international changes and the size of external threats threatening the United Kingdom and NATO.

"Moving these tanks will make us temporarily weaker, there is no doubt about that," Sanders was quoted as saying by the New York Times.