Russian security threat in Arctic exposes British defence flaws

RUSSIA poses a serious threat to Britain because the military is failing to protect the Arctic flank, a report says.

Britain’s ability to defend against threats from the Arctic is at risk due to cost savings, loss of skills and a lack of intellectual investment. The country must apply more resources to address the developing security situation from the north, says the report published today by the defence sub-committee. On Thin Ice: UK Defence in the Arctic

says that the changing natural environment is being accompanied by a change in the security environment. MPS accepted there was a “divergence of views on Russia’s motivation”, but “it is difficult to conclude that this build-up of military strength is proportionate to an exclusively defensive outlook”.

The committee said Russia’s re-activation of Arctic bases, strategic bomber flights and a marked increase in naval activity all had “potentially serious strategic implications for the United Kingdom and for Nato”. The report said Britain’s operational priorities of the last two decades had led to a decline in focus on warfare in the “High North”.

Maj Gen Charles Strickland, the Commandant General Royal Marines, said that the lack of regular training had led to “huge skill fade because of the complexity and harshness of the environment”. Mark Lancaster, the Armed Forces minister, said the training budget had been cut due to “currency fluctuations”.

Experts expressed concern that, whereas the RAF had more than 40 Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft in the Seventies, the nine Poseidon aircraft due in 2019 was an inadequate number and at least 16 were needed. Madeleine Moon MP, chairman of the committee, said: “The changing security environment in the Arctic and the High North is a matter of growing significance to the UK, given the strategic importance of the region and the increasing level of military activity we see.”