UK must take more risk to stay ahead of enemies, Navy chief warns

Britain must take more risk to stay ahead of its enemies and maintaining the status quo is “simply not good enough”, the head of the Navy has said.

First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins warned the UK faces an “inflection point” and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war showed the “vulnerability of traditional naval platforms”.

In a speech at the Royal United Services Institute on Wednesday, Sir Gwyn said he was determined to leave the Royal Navy “much stronger than the one I inherited” by 2029, as he warned: “Standing still is not an option.

“Just maintaining the capable status quo is simply not good enough. We are at an inflection point.

“This need has come into focus as threats have developed and evolved over the last decade but it became irrefutable in 2022 with Russia’s egregious, full-blown invasion of Ukraine.

“That rallying call has only grown louder with the geopolitical developments of the last four years, including in the Middle East.

“The most recent conflict, in particular the shutting of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, has also confirmed something else – sea power is vital if we are to maintain the free flow of trade, uphold freedom of navigation, deter our adversaries and safeguard Britain’s economy against the kind of global shocks we have been experiencing.”

Key to the Navy’s plan is the idea of a “hybrid” force – made up of both crewed ships and drones and other “cutting-edge” technology, he said.

Part of this will require “investing in the way we train” so personnel can hone their warfighting skills in “complex, high-threat battle scenarios, much of which can only be practised through simulation”, Sir Gwyn said.

But he also warned that cost per unit would need to be reduced “to achieve the scale we need” because “the reality is that there is no scenario in which we will have unlimited resource”.

He said: “It’s not about replacing existing capabilities. It is about increasing the survivability and lethality of our force.

“We must end the mentality that we need ever more expensive and ever larger platforms.”

The Government has committed to spend 2.5% of gross domestic product on defence by 2027, increasing to 3% in the next parliament and a Nato-agreed target of 3.5% by 2035, though critics have called on it to go further and to publish its long-delayed defence investment plan.

Sir Gwyn added: “We must not only invest in the technologies of the future, we must change our entire mindset if we are to stay ahead of our enemies.

“That requires us take more risk, to ruthlessly remove unnecessary regulations and other barriers holding us back so that we can cut the time it takes between trialling new systems and putting them to sea or alongside our commanders.

“It requires courage and getting used to failing occasionally in order that we succeed more often.”

The first Navy-wide wargame to test the potential of its new “hybrid” approach was held last month at Southwick Park, Sir Gwyn said.

The exercise showed “clear evidence” of significantly heightened capability, with missile capacity increasing “threefold to the level necessary to win a contest in the North Atlantic”, he said.

It comes after the Defence Secretary said the UK and allies had tracked a Russian attack submarine and two spy submarines, loitering over critical undersea cables in the North Atlantic, for a month before they retreated.

Sir Gwyn warned Russian incursions into British waters had jumped by almost a third in the last two years.

“In 2025 alone, the Royal Navy was required to respond dozens of times in support of homeland defence against Russian navy surface vessels,” he said.

“That is why the Royal Navy has to be ready every day of every month of every year.”

Meanwhile, former security minister Tom Tugendhat said the pensions triple lock and the current welfare bill could not be maintained if the UK is to rearm effectively.

He said at a Policy Exchange event earlier on Wednesday: “We can’t promise pension rises or sickness benefits that leave us so exposed. We won’t be able to pay for anything if our cables are cut and our energy is severed.

“The triple lock and the health demands of a generation that should be at work, not off work, have left us living on a prayer.”

In a bleak assessment of the current defence situation, he added: “France defends Britain’s sovereign territory. The United States takes decisions that determine our future without consulting us.

“The reason is clear: we have too few ships, too few soldiers and too few planes. We have factories receiving too few orders and the armouries holding too few stocks.

“Worst, we have a Government too keen to punish those who try to protect us.”

At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer said the Government had increased defence spending to “the highest since the Cold War” and hit out at the previous Tory administration’s record.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused the Government of “spending so much on welfare that we cannot afford to defend the country”.

The Prime Minister responded: “This is the Labour Government that increased defence spending to the highest since the Cold War.

“What did they do? When they came into power, defence spending was 2.5% and when they left power, it was 2.3%, and even their own Secretary of State admitted they hollowed out our armed forces.

“So we’ll take no lecture from them on defence.”