The UK’s National Audit Office (NAO) has advised the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to balance the strategic interests of both the United Kingdom and Ukraine as it continues training and supplying Ukrainian armed forces amidst the ongoing conflict with Russia. This comes after the NAO found that these actions have compromised the capability of the British Armed Forces by limiting their exercise time on UK training facilities, which has been heavily used for teaching Ukrainian soldiers.
According to the government report, as many as 42,000 Ukrainian troops across various roles have been trained by the United Kingdom since the beginning of the new phase of Russian occupation in 2022. This considerable involvement of the British Armed Forces personnel and use of defense estate for training has led to a substantial increase in requests from the UK Army to utilize its own facilities, which have been rejected at an eight-fold rate compared to normal in 2023.
The challenge extends beyond mere training. The NAO report states that over 676 flights and 3,000 road and rail deliveries have taken place to transport military equipment from the United Kingdom to Ukraine. Replacing this equipment—which includes air defense missiles, drones, cruise missiles, tanks, ships, clothing, and personal gear—would cost an estimated £2.7 billion. Some of these items would not be replenished until 2030-31.
Shortly after the report’s publication, the UK government announced a further tranche of support for Ukraine worth £600 million. This move is likely to exacerbate concerns over dwindling ammunition stockpiles in both the UK and other Western countries supporting Ukraine’s defense. In 2023, the British government cautioned that “stockpiles are looking a bit thin,” with some key items having run out completely.
General Sir Richard Barrons warned that should the United Kingdom become involved in a hot war, its ammunition reserves would be exhausted within a day. He stated that it would take five to ten years to rebuild these reserves, highlighting that the military needs “five to ten years” advance notice before engaging in a conflict with a near-peer adversary. The NAO’s report reinforces this sentiment, indicating that it will take until early 2030s to replace the equipment currently being sent to Ukraine.