The Kremlin has stepped up its hybrid warfare against Nato countries over the past two years – including cyber attacks, interference with undersea cables in the Baltic and North Sea and disinformation campaigns.
The Strategic Defence Review, published earlier this week, recommends the Government works together with close allies in “developing and exercising mechanisms for political decision-making in response to crises, especially where they fall short of war”.
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Defence Secretary John Healey told the Nato defence ministers’ meeting in Brussels earlier this week that the alliance had already confirmed that cyber or hybrid attacks could form the basis of an Article 5 response – where an attack on one member state is deemed to be an attack on all.
Working more closely on such prevention and response would allow allies to be collectively stronger, they added.
The review said: “States such as Russia are intentionally blurring the lines between nuclear, conventional and sub-threshold threats, complicating the ability of the UK and its allies to manage potential escalation and miscalculation.
Russian hostilities also include amassing troops and equipment on its border with Finland, a new Nato ally.
The review authors did not include an Israeli Iron Dome-style system in their recommendations because it would be too expensive for the 3 per cent GDP defence spending limit the Government is planning for after the next election.
They added: “We need to think about defence as well as deterrence, we need to think about missile defence for London and other cities and maybe RAF and military bases.”
Nuclear warhead stockpiling
The SDR raised concerns over Russia and China’s willingness to engage in talks about reviewing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which is due for review next year.
“However, the UK’s priorities and objectives in seeking this renewal must be realistic about the absence of willing partners in Moscow and Beijing.”
Russia’s nuclear weapon storage sites are spread across the vast country, according to research by Russianforces.org
While the NPT does not forbid member countries from stockpiling, it bans them from passing them to non-nuclear states, and nuclear states must pledge to work towards disarmament.
But Britain was also alive to the “strategic reality” of the world becoming more dangerous and more uncertain, and it would be negligent for the Government not to take steps to ensure that the UK’s nuclear deterrent remains fit for purpose for as long as it is needed, the insiders said.
The UK will continue to seek constructive engagement with Russia and China, through their common membership of the P5 group of permanent members of the UN Security Council.
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