UK preparing new national war-readiness plan: Armed forces chief

Britain is developing a new national plan to prepare for a potential transition to war, requiring coordination across the military, government, industry and the public, the head of the country's armed forces said on Friday.

In an interview with Sky News, Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton, the head of the Armed Forces, said the updated strategy would revive elements of a historic “war book” system while adapting it for modern threats and infrastructure.

Knighton said the plan would push the country to think differently about resilience, warning that decades of relative peace can no longer be assumed. “That requires us to educate ourselves and help the population understand some of those threats,” he said, adding that civilians may need to play a more active role in supporting national defense.

The initiative, led by the Cabinet Office, aims to ensure critical infrastructure — including energy, water and transport — can withstand not only natural disasters but also hostile action.

The original war book framework, developed during World War I and maintained through the Cold War, outlined how Britain would mobilize society in a crisis, from deploying armed forces to rationing supplies. It was phased out in the early 2000s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Knighton said the renewed effort reflects growing concern about global instability and the need to rebuild preparedness across both military and civilian sectors.

Earlier in the week, former British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace warned that the UK is currently unable to defend against long-range Iranian missiles and accused government ministers of downplaying the threat amid the ongoing conflict between Iran, the US, and Israel.

Speaking to a radio station, he stressed the need for public awareness and preparedness, drawing comparisons to Cold War-era planning.

“It’s the bigger point. It’s the point about this readiness … leveling with the public that we're going to have to think differently. Ex-soldiers like me, who would have been a reservist, would have been called up. All of that discussion needs to happen with the public.”

The former defense secretary served from July 2019 to September 2022 under Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and, briefly, Liz Truss.