Ukraine war forces military rethink as General Sir Roly Walker says soldiers must be ready to fight enemies at distances of just metres
Britain’s top army officer has warned soldiers to prepare for a battlefield where survival may depend on fighting enemies at point-blank range, as lessons from Ukraine force a fundamental rethink of decades of military doctrine.
General Sir Roly Walker, Chief of the General Staff, told troops that traditional assumptions about close combat no longer reflected modern warfare, where soldiers could find themselves fighting at distances of zero to 40 metres.
“The things that are going to kill you are going to get that close to you,” he warned, Forces News reported.
Speaking to about 700 members of the 1st (UK) Division at Catterick Garrison, the Army’s light, high-readiness global response force, Walker said Ukraine’s experience had exposed the need to prepare soldiers for a more immediate and brutal form of combat.
For decades, British Army doctrine had focused on engaging the leading edge of an enemy force at distances of between 400 metres and four kilometres. That approach reflected a military increasingly shaped by precision weapons, surveillance and the ability to strike adversaries from further away.
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Walker said the Army had spent between 20 and 60 years refining its ability to fight within that geographical zone, optimising its systems to support what he described as the most difficult and dangerous task: confronting the enemy at close quarters.
But the war in Ukraine has shown that the decisive fight can take place much closer.
“We are shifting from an Army that has, for the last 20 to 40 to 60 years, perfected, to a point of precision, the business of combat and fighting to a kind of geographical zone that was about 400 metres to your front,” he said.
He suggested the battlefield could no longer be understood primarily through the reach of advanced weapons and the advantages of distance. Soldiers must also be prepared to survive in confined, unpredictable environments where an enemy may be only metres away.
Walker highlighted the dangers of fighting in tunnels, abandoned buildings, dense woodland and village streets — settings where visibility is limited, and engagements can unfold at close quarters.
“Whether that is close-quarters combat in tunnels, whether that’s in derelict buildings, whether it’s in devilishly thick forests and woods, or on the streets of villages,” he said, the threat could be immediate.
The warning reflects a wider challenge for Western militaries as they draw lessons from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The conflict has demonstrated the importance of drones, precision strikes and long-range weapons, while also underlining the continuing necessity of infantry fighting for ground in devastated urban areas and difficult terrain.
For Britain’s Army, the implication is that technological sophistication alone cannot guarantee survival. Soldiers must retain the physical toughness, adaptability and close-combat skills needed when technology cannot keep the enemy at a distance.
“At the end of the day, you have to be hard, tough, resilient and resourceful soldiers if you’ve got any chance of surviving on the modern battlefield,” Walker said.
His message was stark: the next generation of British soldiers must be prepared not only to fight a technologically advanced enemy, but also to face the most visceral realities of warfare — at distances where there may be little time to react and nowhere to hide.
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