Daily Mirror

Forces lack 8,200 staff

Send Vlad a message right back

- BY COL RICHARD KEMP,

„Russia and China have 7,130 nuclear weapons between them. „Russia has 6,850 of them and the latest weapon in its arsenal is the terrifying RS-28 Sarmat global cruise missile, pictured left, dubbed the Satan 2. It is claimed one Satan 2 could deliver enough nuclear warheads to wipe out the UK. „The US is estimated to have 6,500 nuclear warheads and Britain and France around 500 between them. ADfchofglu­hmfgnhfogf­hTf-g7h2fgtahn­fgkhsfghf prepares for the war games yesterday. The steel and composite armoured vehicles have massive 125mm main guns and 12.7mm antiaircra­ft machine guns

T-72 TANKS

„From its convention­al forces, Russia could muster around 1 million troops. And China’s People’s Liberation Army, above, is the largest in the world with 2,285,000 soldiers. „The 26 EU member states of NATO have around 2million troops. The US and Canada have around 1.4million, making a total of 3.4million. DEADLY An Su-30SM on the runway yesterday More than 1,000 fighters, bombers and helicopter­s will take part. They include the The Su-30SM multirole fighter armed with machine guns, bombs and air-to-air missiles. Below, Russian Ka-52 Alligator all-weather attack helicopter­s take off. LET’S ROLL A Russian army convoy sets off

The 300,000 Russian and 4,000 Chinese troops will be spearheade­d by the feared Spetsnaz special forces. Their motto is: “Anytime, anywhere, any mission”. Sabotage targets include: missile sites, ordnance depots, airfields and naval bases.

IN HIS SIGHTS A Spetsnaz sniper FORMER COMMANDER UK FORCES AFGHANISTA­N

THESE exercises should be deeply concerning to the British Government and military commanders.

Russia is extending her influence all over the Middle East and into its neighbouri­ng territorie­s and this has a direct effect on our security.

We need urgently to bolster our Army, Navy and RAF because years of cuts have left all three weaker than they were throughout the Cold War.

This is not just about having the numbers to do operations abroad and to defend British interests but also to take a tough stance. Strong forces and with the evident will to use them are more likely to deter an aggressor and avoid the need to fight.

We need to show Putin any strength he thinks he is projecting can easily and calmly be matched with a strong will and an armed forces to back it. THE armed forces has a shortfall of 8,200 troops, a report shows today.

A Whitehall spending watchdog said it is the “largest shortfall of regulars for many years”.

The Ministry of Defence does not expect to fill the gap before 2022.

The Public Accounts Committee said: “The MoD must ensure the armed forces have the skilled personnel they need to tackle threats to national security.”

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