A former head of the Royal Navy has urged the Government to reverse Army cuts and build more warships as the Government prepares to unveil its latest military blueprint.
The updated Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy will be published on Monday - two years after the last one.
Retired top brass, Conservative backbenchers and international experts hope it will undo many of the cuts outlined in the March 2021 version.
That formed the centrepiece of Boris Johnson ’s defence policy - slashing 9,500 soldiers, taking troop numbers from 82,000 to 72,500 and scrapping a third of the Army’s tanks.
Russia invaded Ukraine 11 months later, but Mr Johnson resisted calls to rethink the plan.
However, then PM Liz Truss ordered an update in September during her 49-day term in No10 - and the plan will finally be revealed next week.
Lord West, who was First Sea Lord from 2002 to 2006, said the war raging in Ukraine should force ministers to ditch troop cuts.
“Although the last Integrated Review did say that Russia was the biggest threat, it didn’t really give the feel of the imminence of the risk that we were all in,” he told the Mirror.
“There is now war in Europe. I hope the Integrated Review reflects the fact that with a war in Europe, the necessity for strong defence forces becomes rather high.
“I hope they are going to identify that 72,000 soldiers is too few and that probably we need more tanks and we need to hasten the equipping of the aircraft carrier battle groups.
“It’s all very well having them but if you haven’t got the aircraft, they haven’t got the weapons - so they have got to focus on getting those things done.”
He added: “You know bloody well that if you only have 72,000 troops you really haven’t got enough.
“If you’ve got 82,000 you probably have.”
The Falklands War veteran and Labour peer, who was Security Minister from 2007 to 2010, said ministers also needed to address whether large numbers of British troops would once again be based long-term in Europe to help defend NATO’s eastern flank from Kremlin aggression.
He also called on the Government to abandon plans to cut the number of Challenger 2 tanks from 227 to 148 - and instead upgrade them all to Challenger 3 versions.
As PM in November 2021, Mr Johnson defended slashing tank numbers, telling MPs: “We have to recognise that the old concept of fighting big tank battles on European land mass are over.”
Three months later, Russian tanks rolled west into Ukraine.
Lord West, 74, said: “It’s no good saying that tanks are redundant, they’re not.
“If tanks are used properly, supported by infantry in mechanised personnel carriers with sufficient artillery, then they are still very important on the battlefield.”
He also demanded a boost to naval shipbuilding to increase the size of the escort Fleet from just 13 frigates and six destroyers.
Lord West wanted production of eight, Type 26, City-class, “Global Combat Ship” frigates which - along with five, Type 31 light frigates - are replacing 13, Type 23 Duke-class vessels, speeded-up.
“Absolutely we need to reinforce the shipbuilding strategy, which means a steady loading,” he said.
“Ideally we should try and speed-up the delivery of the Type 26s.”
