LONDON: The head of the British army warned on Monday that Britain would struggle to match Russian capabilities on the battlefield, making a high-profile intervention in a growing row over military spending.

“Our ability to pre-empt or respond to threats will be eroded if we don’t keep up with our adversaries,” Chief of the General Staff Nick Carter said in comments released ahead of a rare public speech later on Monday.

He warned that Russia boasted capabilities that Britain would struggle to match, saying it has already demonstrated its use of superior long-range missiles in Syria.

Carter also highlighted the threat to Britain of cyber attacks, ahead of the speech to the RUSI military think tank in London.

“The threats we face are not thousands of miles away but are now on Europe’s doorstep,” he said, in excerpts released by the defence ministry.

“We have seen how cyber warfare can be both waged on the battlefield and to disrupt normal people’s lives. We in the UK are not immune from that.” He warned that responding to these threats now was essential, “or our ability to take action will be massively constrained”.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2018