Former Army chief hits out at claims new recruits part of ‘woke generation’ as he warns British troops to be outmanned in future wars

British troops will be outmanned and face technologically superior enemies in future conflicts, the former head of the Army has warned.

General Sir Patrick Sanders, former Chief of the General Staff, said the modernisation of Britain’s forces would take time as the Army seeks to become more lethal – time, which he warned, is in “short supply”.

He told new officer cadets at Sandhurst Military Academy they would likely fight “isolated, over-matched in numbers, equipment and technology, with tenuous supply lines and before the country has mobilised” in any future war.

But he also outright rejected claims that new recruits were part of a “woke generation”, dismissing them as “nonsense”.

The General counselled that the UK has faced similar challenges before, declaring: “We have always fought with our backs to the wall. This is who we are.”

He highlighted the Army’s “gilded reputation for military prowess based on an extraordinary record of success” despite difficult conditions.

“Our country is proud of us and our adversaries and allies respect us,” Sanders said, attributing this to the army’s adaptability, fighting spirit and leadership.

But turning to potential future threats, Sanders warned of an “implacably hostile and expansionist Russia” aligned with nuclear-armed autocracies driven by “might is right” principles.

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He said: “When I took over as CGS, I raised my head above the parapet, describing a 1937 moment, calling for mobilisation. What was controversial then is now no longer in dispute.

“Confronted by an implacably hostile and expansionist Russia, which is aligned with and supported by an axis of nuclear-armed autocracies, all actuated by might is right, you join the profession of arms at a watershed moment and an army that is more relevant than at any time in my career.

“So if you fight, and my experience has been that you will, sooner or later, it will likely be as the British Army always has: isolated, over-matched in numbers, equipment and technology, with tenuous supply lines and before the country has mobilised.”

Earlier this year, his recommendation to “train and equip” a citizen army and boost troop numbers prompted then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to rule out conscription.

Sanders’ successor, General Sir Roly Walker, warned in July that Britain must be ready to fight a war in three years.

But Defence Secretary John Healey acknowledged in October that Britain was not ready for war.

Veterans Minister Alistair Carns issued an even starker warning this month, saying the entire British Army would be wiped out within “six months to a year” of a war with Russia.

A Strategic Defence Review is underway – and its head, Lord Robertson, is said to have told the Prime Minister he must choose between cutting 20,000 troops or scrapping Britain’s aircraft carriers if he fails to increase defence spending – with the Express reporting that military chiefs are “clearing their diaries in a bid to resolve the crisis”.

A Government spokeswoman said: “This Government will always do what it takes to defend this country with threats increasing, the world becoming more volatile and technology changing the nature of warfare.”