Britain must rebuild its naval power and strengthen its ability to wage war at sea to counter an increasingly assertive Russia, the head of the Royal Navy has warned.
General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, First Sea Lord, told a private audience in Whitehall that the UK needed to “rediscover what it means to be a maritime nation”, arguing that greater investment in warships, drones and undersea capabilities was necessary as Russian activity around British waters increases.
The warning comes as the Royal Navy operates with a fleet that is close to its smallest in living memory and has faced persistent constraints over the availability of surface ships and submarines.
Speaking at Admiralty House, Jenkins said: “The greatest threat to our security today is Russia.
“Russia retains advanced submarines that are increasingly difficult to track, long-range precision weapons and specialist systems designed to operate deep underwater. Russia is probing, testing and mapping.
“It seeks advantage in the grey zone, particularly around the critical undersea infrastructure on which modern societies rely.”
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Jenkins said two Royal Navy warships were being deployed each week to monitor Russian vessels, underlining the resources required to maintain surveillance of Moscow’s naval activity around the UK and North Atlantic.
He said Russia viewed Britain as “one of its greatest foes”, adding: “We know that Russia is probing us for weakness. And we are facing threats in a way we have not been since the Cold War.”
His intervention comes amid renewed debate over the scale and timing of Britain’s future defence spending, with Labour facing pressure to increase military expenditure to 3 per cent of gross domestic product by 2030.
Jenkins argued that the country’s geography and economic model made maritime security fundamental to national defence, particularly given Britain’s reliance on sea lanes and undersea infrastructure.
He told the audience: “Churchill attached such significance to the Atlantic because he understood something important. The sea is not peripheral to Britain – it is existential.
“Sea power not only sustained us during the war. It arguably saved us. Lose the war at sea, and you lose the war. That was the warning of Admiral Pound, the first sea lord of the day, and it remains true now.
“If we are to prevail in the Atlantic again, we must strengthen our warfighting readiness and rediscover what it means to be a maritime nation.”
The Royal Navy has warned that Russian incursions into British waters have increased by almost a third over the past two years, placing additional demands on a fleet already balancing routine deployments with growing surveillance requirements.
Jenkins has previously described Britain as facing an “open sea border” with Russia in the North Atlantic.
The latest warning reflects a broader shift in British military planning towards longer-range surveillance, autonomous systems and the protection of critical infrastructure beneath the sea, as Russia seeks to exploit vulnerabilities below the threshold of open conflict.
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