France outpaces Britain in troops, frigates, and military aircraft, positioning itself to take the lead as the leading military NATO power in Europe.
The Daily Mail reported the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) warned that while France spent less on defense, it could take the lead.
The leading think-tanks yearly comparison of military forces per country prompted calls for Britain to hike its military budget in March. Now, ministers are dealing with the pressure from multiple calls to spend more for a more robust military. IISS senior fellow Brigadier Ben Barry noted that the jurys out to see if Britain held the line in maintaining the most capable military in the UK.
Last year Britain spent 58 billion pounds on defense last year, which was about 13 billion pounds more than France. However, France has 203,250 Navy, Army, and Air Force personnel compared to Britains 150,350.
Emmanuel Macron, the French President, plans to increase military spending by a third in the hopes of securing the country from potential Russian aggression. The British Prime Minister and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have yet to make plans to follow suit, despite calls to make a similar move.
The Daily Mail reports that a spokesman from the MoD said, Defense has delivered a balanced budget for nearly three years running, unprecedented in the last few decades. This comes as MoD contracts were analyzed by the Labour Party, revealing out of 42 major defense projects which are not expected to meet delivery deadlines, 11 of them are over budget to the tune of about 18 billion pounds.
Chairman of the defense committee, Tobias Ellwood, wants Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to resort to his predecessors pledge to raise military spending. Former Prime Minister Liz Truss promised to raise military cash to 3% of the GDP by the decades end. Ellwood told the Daily Mail, Its clear to see the threat picture is deteriorating, and we are placing ever greater demands on our Armed Forces We are a nation that steps forward in times of international crisis. This simply cannot be done on a peacetime defense budget.
Brigadier Barry expressed concern that Ukraine poses uncomfortable questions in terms of the size of the British stockpiles and its ability to sustain high-intensity combat.
Will France overtake Britain as Natos dominant European military armed forces? Time will tell.
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