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【Text/Observer Network Qi Qian】Since taking office in June this year, British Army Chief of Staff Roland Walker has repeatedly hyped up the "China threat" and advocated that the British Army strengthen its combat readiness on the grounds of the increasing "geopolitical threats" from China, Russia, Iran and other countries. According to British media such as the BBC and The Guardian, on July 23 local time, Walker once again declared that Britain must be ready for war within three years.

Walker announced an ambitious modernization plan during a British Army conference in London that day.

He claimed that due to the "continuous convergence of geopolitical threats" from China, Russia, Iran and other countries, the British Army has three years to prepare for war and urgently needs to modernize. He also said that war is "not inevitable" and reform is a "non-war plan", but the British Army must ensure deterrence to make opponents think twice.

According to Walker, the three-year timetable was formulated based on a comprehensive consideration of multiple factors. In his speech, he talked about Russia, saying that no matter how the Russian-Ukrainian conflict ends, "history has proven that Russia will eventually recover and seek revenge." At the same time, he cited the US assessment to exaggerate the situation in the Taiwan Strait, claiming that mainland China "hopes to provide Taiwan with a military option by 2027-28." He also mentioned the Iranian nuclear issue.

Walker then said that he had a "bold ambition" for the British Army and hoped to "double the combat effectiveness of the British Army within three years and triple it to the current level by 2030." He said that in order to do this, the Army must get rid of the "thinking that the number of soldiers determines combat effectiveness", create a "military Internet of Things", and embrace new technologies driven by drones, artificial intelligence and other fields.

"This is not science fiction," he added. "If we could double or even triple our combat power, the British Army would be able to destroy an army at least three times its size and continue to do so."

This is not the first time Walker has advocated for the British Army to strengthen its combat readiness. On June 27, his goal was to "double the lethality" of the army within three years and triple it by the end of 2030. When talking about the army's needs, he said that electronic warfare, drones, air defense systems and long-range weapons such as rockets, as well as logistics and reserves, "are still the guiding stars."

The Guardian mentioned that not long ago, the British government had agreed to increase defense spending from the current 2.32% of GDP to 2.5%, but a specific timetable has not yet been determined. Although Walker did not immediately ask for an increase in military spending, his boss, Tony Radakin, Chief of the British Ministry of Defense Staff, had previously called for additional investment in the military to build a "stronger and more capable" army.

According to the latest data from the British Ministry of Defense in April this year, the British regular army has a total of more than 75,000 members, which is the smallest army in the UK since the mid-19th century. In recent years, the number of British army retirements has not been equal to the number of new recruits, so the total number of soldiers has been declining.

As early as March this year, Rob Magowan, Deputy Chief of the British Ministry of Defense Staff, attended a hearing of the British House of Commons Defense Committee and stated that if a war were to go to war with Russia, the current British army would not last more than two months.

According to a report by the British newspaper The Times on June 27, former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe Richard Shilliff once pointed out that the British Army was "seriously short of ammunition." Experts believe that it is difficult for the British Army to send a 6,000-man brigade to fight overseas for a period of time. Defense analyst Francis Tusa said: "In the past 10 years, the army has gone from a capable combat force to an incompetent combat force."

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