AMERICA has warned it cannot plug gaps in Britain’s meager armed forces in the event of all-out war.
General Randy George, head of the US Army, insisted that Britain must be self-sufficient.
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He emphasized the need for vast stores of ammunition to keep the big guns firing in a protracted conflict.
Speaking during a trip to the UK, he said Britain must be able to bring all the weapons it needs to a fight.
He warned that it would be “difficult for another army” – such as the US – to help if the flag was raised.
He said: “What would I like from the British Army? You have to have magazine depth.
“Whatever your formations, do you have all the ammunition you need to sustain yourself during a long fight?”
Crucially, he added: “If you are going to fight, make sure you have all the capabilities of the battle field because it will be difficult for another army to provide this.”
Capabilities include air, including air defense missiles, surveillance drones and electronic warfare devices to protect frontline troops and supply chains.
Britain would rightly expect to fight alongside NATO allies in the event of a major conflict.
But Gen George’s message to British brass was that they cannot expect America to do the heavy lifting and logistics.
Speaking at the Rusi think tank in London, he said: “We need to ensure we are prepared to fight on a large scale.
“One of the lessons from Ukraine is that we can have the best weapons in the world, but if we run out of bullets it won’t matter at all.
“We will have to have bullets and ammunition on a large scale.”
But he warned that getting “beans and bullets where they need to go” will be more difficult than ever due to the threat from long missiles and drones.
He also said it was vital to protect airfields and bases from “air, space and missile threats”.
He said the world was as dangerous as he had ever known in his 36 years of military service.
Britain has reduced its army to its smallest size in 300 years and former defense ministers, including Ben Wallace, have warned that its army has been depleted by decades of underinvestment.
The UK has 73,000 fully trained soldiers – 20,000 fewer than when the Conservatives arrived power in 2014.
The Ministry of Defense has promised to double its munitions budget to more than £2 billion a year during the next six years.
And the government has committed to increasing defense spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030.
But critics accused Grant Shapps, the Defense Secretary, of manipulating the statistics to claim it was a £75 billion increase in the defense budget.
Privately, top brass admit that the British Army is currently unable to meet Gen George’s demand “to be ready for full-scale war”.
Gen George compared current threats to the build-up to World War II, when Winston Churchill warned about the rearmament of Nazi Germany.
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He said: “You have to wonder today whether we are facing a Churchillian moment.
“There are red lights flashing all around us, forcing us to make difficult choices.”
The Sun revealed last year that Britain’s munitions stockpiles would run dry in an afternoon’s shooting war with Russia.
Gen Georce said wars “always last longer than we want” and usually boil down to a “close fight” between soldiers.
He said: “Even in the age of nuclear weapons, there is nothing like a professional and disciplined army at the gates.
“Walay wars last longer than we wish. They often come down to bitter fighting, whether in the streets of Falluhjah or on the mountaintops of the Falklands.”
He refused to be asked whether RussiaChina or another country posed the greatest threat.
General Sir Richard Barrons, former commander of the United Kingdom’s Joint Forces Command, said British troops were dubbed “borrowers” by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He said: “What George means is that the British Army has to be able to do its job, not half the job.
“That means enough people and equipment, that is good enough and works, trained to the right level and supported with intelligence, logistics, medical capacity, ammunition and money.”
He said British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan turned up with headquarters and units “with lots of opinions but not enough material to actually fight”.
The top US general in NATO, known as Supreme Allied Commander Europe, recently warned that he no longer saw Britain having a Tier One army.
Gen. Barrons added: “We should also view his comments in light of the certainty that whoever wins the US election, the US will no longer pay for 70 percent of NATO now that Europe has become so rich, in comparison with 1947.”
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