Speaking at the Land Warfare Conference, Sir Roly Walker, Chief of the General Staff General, will tell the UK how he has “been clear” how Britain will be ready for war in the future
The head of the British Army will warn the UK’s future soldiers will never drive into battle without being accompanied by ground drones. Emphasising the Army as being “crucially important” to UK security he said Britain is already embracing “new technology and artificial intelligence.”
Chief of the General Staff General Sir Roly Walker will tell the UK Land Warfare Conference how Britain will be ready for war in the future. He will tell the conference how he has warned Britain’s weapons manufacturers how the battlefield will develop into wars with ground drones.
The General is expected to say: “I have been clear to industry: in the future, no crewed platform should ever deploy in future without uncrewed ground vehicles – the utility vehicle of the 21st century.” He will describe to the key conference at the Royal United Services Institute in London, how the army is first on the ground and the last to leave in conflict.
In his speech he will outline how: “Only armies seize and hold ground, and only armies remain when wars end. The Army ‘buys’ the nation not just battlefield success in isolation but decisive weight at the point it matters.” General Walker will claim the Army is evolving at pace to meet the demands of the future.
And his ambition is that the Army will be able to “strike deep, defend forward, and build stronger.” And he will argue: “The Army that adapts fastest – wins. And the deeper change is cultural, not just technological.”
The revelation reflects a major shift towards uncrewed and autonomous systems as a core element of future land warfare. The need for emphasis on drone warfare, as learned in the Ukraine war, was one of the main issues former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns stressed as he quit his role shortly after former Defence Secretary John Healey quit his recently.
Both men felt not enough was to be spent on defence. And General Walker will argue that the Army will rely on a 20.40.40 system consisting of 20% human fighters, 40% “autonomous systems” and 40% firepower. In his speech he will outline the plan by explaining: “We must pivot everyone hard to the ‘20:40:40’ fighting system – the three rings of modern lethality.”
The Chief of the General Staff will emphasise that the UK’s influence within NATO depends on the scale and credibility of its contribution. In particular, he will argue, this will be through delivering forces capable of operating at the highest levels of warfighting.
