Head of Army lays out ambitions to ‘strike deep, defend forward, build stronger’

Press Association Reporters

The head of the Army will lay out ambitions to “strike deep, defend forward and build stronger” with an adapting land force heavily backed by autonomy for future warfare.

Chief of the General Staff General Sir Roly Walker will say a shift towards uncrewed systems on the battlefield, using AI and data along with boots on the ground, will help the force to outpace the UK’s adversaries.

In a speech at a conference held by the Royal United Services Institute, General Walker will argue that armies “decide outcomes” in conflicts and will continue to do so.

“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,” he is to say.

“The army that adapts fastest – wins. And the deeper change is cultural, not just technological.”

General Walker will reflect on a year of reforms to the force before setting out ambitions to “strike deep, defend forward and build stronger”.

He 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.”

The Army is shifting towards the so-called 20-40-40 fighting system, which is meant to see a fifth of its power delivered through manned heavy equipment like tanks, 40% through “attritable” autonomous items like drones and 40% through high-volume firepower.

He will add: “We must pivot everyone hard to the ‘20-40-40’ fighting system – the three rings of modern lethality.”

His speech is expected to be followed by a keynote address from the new Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis, who took the job after his predecessor John Healey resigned over funding for the long-delayed defence investment plan (Dip).

Mr Healey said the Dip was only due to provide £13.5 billion extra investment in defence, far short of the £28 billion over four years which officials had said was necessary.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy confirmed on Monday that the Government intends to publish the finalised plan before July 7, though it is understood any changes are likely to be to the mix of measures rather than to the overall sum of money.