UK picking apart Russian army vehicles captured in Ukraine to learn their secrets
The UK is picking apart Russian armoured vehicles captured in Ukraine to learn more about how to defend against any future attack, Britain’s military chief has revealed.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin also told Sky News that the war in Ukraine had been a “wake-up call” for his forces, requiring them to be faster and take more risk when arming themselves.
Ukraine war latest: Putin control hit as attack sends ‘shockwaves’ across Russia
Offering his perspective, Ben Wallace, the outgoing defence secretary, described Ukraine as a “battle laboratory” for Ukrainian troops and their Western allies as they experiment with new weapons and technology to fight Vladimir Putin’s invaders.
Read more: Ben Wallace: ‘It’s been a long slog… I’m happy to go’
The minister – who announced at the weekend that he would be stepping down from government at the next reshuffle – also defended a controversial decision to stick with a plan to reduce Britain’s army to 73,000 troops despite a land war raging in Eastern Europe.
Mr Wallace signalled to journalists that reversing the move by regrowing the force to 82,000 would cost £5bn to ensure the new soldiers were properly armed and housed, adding: “Or am I going to give them pitchforks?”
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace
The defence secretary is set to unveil a refreshed blueprint for the shape and size of the Armed Forces on Tuesday – drawn up in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
But the Defence Command Paper 2023 Refresh will not include any new money even after mounting concern among some commanders about the need to accelerate plans to rebuild and modernise the army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force following decades of cuts.
Instead, the document will outline different priorities, such as a focus on greater war-fighting resilience with the reallocation of £2.5bn of the defence budget to replenishing stockpiles of weapons and ammunition.
Admiral Radakin, chief of the defence staff, said the war in Ukraine was “a wake-up call for us to be faster with our acquisition, to be more bold with the kit that we introduce – particularly when we’re in a technological race – to be more aggressive in terms of how we look after our own nation and to strengthen our resilience”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Defence Minister Ben Wallace says he will stand down at the next election.
Asked about what the UK was learning from examining captured Russian military vehicles from Ukraine, Admiral Radakin said: “It’s really important because we’re in a club of nations that when we get hold of Russian kit or other nations’ kit that might be a danger to us in the future, we share that knowledge.”
He said: “But we also have the scientists that unpick the detail that another nation might have to a really forensic level, and that helps us to understand: how does their equipment work? How can we defeat it? How can we have even better armour? How can we disrupt their communications? How can we ensure that we can penetrate their defences?
“And that’s what we do.”
The defence chief and Mr Wallace were speaking at Wellington Barracks in London at an event to discuss the command paper.
Both men were stood outside near to a large, beige-coloured military vehicle, fitted with a launchpad for anti-tank missiles that previously had only been fired from aircraft.
The “WOLFRAM” is an example of British innovation at speed prompted by the war in Ukraine.
Read more:
Why Ben Wallace’s days were numbered – analysis
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Wagner troops cross border to Belarus, says Kyiv
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Sky’s Diana Magnay explains what we know so far about the Crimean bridge explosion.
In the early days after Russia’s full-scale invasion last year, British industry specialists and defence scientists wondered whether they could adapt the Brimstone anti-tank missile – typically launched from fast jets and drones – to be fired off the back of a pickup truck – plentiful in Ukraine.
Over the course of a single weekend, with the help of a Toyota vehicle, a generator from B&Q, a borrowed laptop and some clever computer codes, they had come up with a concept. Within a matter of a few weeks, the missile was on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin
Mr Wallace said Ukraine’s “thirst to survive” meant Kyiv has scrapped peacetime rules and regulations to trial new weapons and modifications offered by its allies. This innovation was also benefitting Ukraine’s allies.
“They’ve had to take risk and experiment on things they might not know work or not, and they have become a battle lab for their own forces, and that showed us the way,” the defence secretary said.
“I regret the circumstances that it had to happen, but it has shown the way about how things have to be done in the 21st century in a new battlefield.”
UK
UK has no plans for conscription – but future decisions will respond to ‘new reality’, says minister
The UK is not considering introducing conscription to ready the country for a potential war – but decisions may be needed in the future to respond to the “new reality” we are now living in, a minister has told Sky News.
In an interview with Trevor Phillips, Latvian President Edgars Rinkeviks has urged European countries to follow his country’s lead and “absolutely” introduce conscription, conceding the continent is “quite weak” militarily.
Politics latest: Calls for European nations to reintroduce conscription
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Debate’ in Latvia about introducing conscription for women
Asked if the UK government is considering introducing the measure to boost the armed forces, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said it is important the UK does not find itself operating under “old assumptions” – and that it may be “decisions are needed in the future that respond to a new reality”.
He told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “We are not considering conscription, but of course we have announced a major increase in defence expenditure.
“We do have to recognise that the world has changed. The phrase ‘step up’ is used a lot. Europe does have to step up in terms of its own defence.
“President Trump isn’t actually the first president to say that, but he said it more loudly and with more force than his predecessors – so, I think we have got to recognise that moment.”
‘UK cannot cling to old assumptions’
He added: “When the world is changing as fast as it is, it’s important that we don’t cling on to old assumptions.
“I think the prime minister has played a tremendous role in recent weeks in responding to that situation and explaining it to the public.
“That is why the decision on increasing defence expenditure was needed.
“It may be why other decisions are needed in the future that respond to a new reality, and that we don’t find ourselves caught operating under the same assumption as we used to in the past when the situation has changed.”
‘Battlefield is changing’
Sir Keir Starmer has promised to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP but has not set out when this will be achieved. Ministers say a defence review to be published this spring will set out a “roadmap” to it.
The number is much lower than the US president has demanded NATO members spend on defence, with Mr Trump saying they should all be spending 5% – an amount last seen during the Cold War.
Asked if the “new reality” involved a bigger army, Mr McFadden said ministers were waiting for the conclusion of the review.
But he added: “One thing is for sure, you would not spend money today on the same things as you would 10 years ago.
“The experience of the three years of the war in Ukraine has shown just how fast the battlefield is changing in terms of cyber, drones, the use of intelligence.”
The Conservatives’ first policy announcement of last year’s general election campaign was that the party would introduce a new form of mandatory National Service for 18-year-olds.
Asked if the Tories still stood by the plan which was in their manifesto, shadow home secretary Chris Philp told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “We are obviously not going to write our manifesto now, so I am not going to recommit to things in the previous manifesto.
“We’ll need to do the thinking properly. I am not going to speculate four years ahead of the election.
“I don’t think it was really exactly conscription that was being proposed, it was a National Citizen Service which is a bit different.
“The idea of getting younger people to do voluntary work and perform useful tasks is not a bad idea.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Right time’ to think about conscription
Last year, Britain’s former top NATO commander told Sky News it was time to “think the unthinkable” and consider introducing conscription.
General Sir Richard Sherriff, ex-deputy supreme allied commander of the military organisation, said: “I think we need to get over many of the cultural hang-ups and assumptions, and frankly think the unthinkable.
“I think we need to go further and look carefully at conscription.”
Police searching for the suspect in the Kent pub shooting on Valentine’s Day have recovered a body from the River Thames.
Lisa Smith, 43, was killed after she was shot outside The Three Horseshoes in Knockholt on the evening of Friday 14 February.
Later that night, the suspect, named as Edvard Smith, was believed to have fallen into the Thames from the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge which crosses the river at Dartford 17 miles away.
Lisa Smith
Around that time, the suspect’s car containing a handgun was found abandoned on the bridge and a man was seen on the wrong side of the barrier.
About a week after the shooting, Kent Police said they believed Edvard Smith had died after falling into the water.
The force has now said a body was found in the Thames near Rainham in Essex on Friday afternoon. It has not been formally identified but the suspect’s family have been told of the development.
Edvard Smith was known to Ms Smith and there had been no prior contact between the police and the victim or suspect.
‘So much commotion’
Following the shooting, the landlady of The Three Horseshoes, Michelle Thomas, told Sky News she heard two loud bangs that she initially “thought were fireworks” on the night of the attack.
She said there was “so much commotion – screaming, shouting, crying” and the shooting had left the community in “absolute shock”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
CCTV captures sound of gunshots near fatal shooting site
She said Ms Smith, from Slough, had been to the pub before, “mostly in the summer” but “wasn’t a regular”.
Ms Thomas also said about 30 people were at the pub for dinner, while 20 more were in the bar as the incident unfolded just after 7pm.
Read more from Sky News:
Security breach at Parliament
Heavy rain and flooding batter Australian coast
Kent Police said on Saturday: “A body has been recovered by police from the River Thames, which is being linked to a murder investigation in Knockholt.
“On Friday 14 February 2025, Lisa Smith, 43, was killed after she was shot outside a pub in Main Road. The suspect was known to Lisa and later that evening officers found his car abandoned on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge. Enquiries established he had fallen into the water below.
“At around 3.45pm on Friday 7 March, a body was located near Rainham, Essex. Formal identification has not yet taken place; however, the man’s family have been informed.”
Parts of the UK are expected to be hotter than the Balearic Islands, Costa del Sol and the Amalfi Coast this weekend.
The country is set to reach the highest temperatures of the year so far, with central England heating up to 20C on Sunday.
Saturday is also set to reach temperatures in the high teens, with East Anglia, northwest England, the north Midlands and North Wales hitting 18-19C, the Met Office said.
Those temperatures are believed to be above average for this time of year.
Get the latest forecast for your area here
Craig Snell, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said there are a “few exceptions” to the “fine and sunny” weekend weather, including areas in the far north of Scotland, but those areas will still be generally dry and sunny.
A map showing warm fronts over the UK on Saturday
Meanwhile, popular holiday destinations in Europe are expected to record cooler temperatures.
A high of 15C is forecast this weekend for Marbella on the south coast of Spain, a maximum of 17C is expected in Ibiza, and 18C is forecast for Sorrento on Italy’s Amalfi Coast.
People were out in force on Saturday, enjoying the warmer weather. Pic: PA
Joggers run along the sea front in Southend-on-Sea, Essex.
Pic: PA
Sky News meteorologist Chris England said the warm weekend is not expected to last, with conditions “cooling off from the North on Sunday night and through Monday”.
Colder fronts will start to move across the UK on Monday
By Wednesday the UK will experience wintry showers and cold temperatures
A spell of rain will move south across the country early next week, bringing the return of a few wintry showers in the North and North East.
“While there is uncertainty in the extent of rain and wintry showers through the middle of next week, there is higher confidence that below average temperatures will continue through the week, bringing a very different feel to the mild weather over the weekend,” deputy chief meteorologist Chris Bulmer said.
Read more from Sky News:
Man holding Palestinian flag climbs Big Ben
Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe reported to police
Temperatures will drop back below average across the UK from Tuesday, according to the Met Office.
Rural spots in Scotland could plummet as low as -4C, with maximum daytime temperatures typically between 5-8C.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports11 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway