Authors iv

Acknowledgements iv

Foreword v

Executive summary vi

Introduction 1

Chapter 1: The Imperative for moving to war readiness - a rapidly changing geopolitical and geostrategic environment 2

Russia's war on Ukraine 3

Trump's revolution and its impact on the 'international rules-based order' 4

Reforming NATO 7

Reforming the EU 8

Reforming the UK's warfighting structure 9

Lessons from past experience 11

Chapter 2: Warfighting readiness: what does it mean? 13

Armies fight battles; countries fight wars 13

War is war - it is not a crisis 15

War must be won, or more than the war will be lost; warfighting readiness prepares the country to win the war 15

How do our adversaries see war and what does war readiness mean to them? 17

Culmination, and its implications for the direction that the war in Ukraine will take 20

Understanding our allies and how our alliances affect our war readiness 22

Today's rapid and drastic change means that preparing for and winning a war depends on adaptability 23

Preparing for war as a key element of deterring war 25

Chapter 3: Government as the fundamental basis for war readiness 28

War necessitates a new kind of politics and new forms of governance 28

The development of a war-capable political process 28

Practical steps to improve the situation 30

Ensuring that national governance is war ready 31

Government in wartime requires more bandwidth 32

The need for a strategic mindset and a process for making and implementing strategy 34

The UK's National Security Strategy (NSS) 2025 35

The Strategic Defence Review 2025 (SDR) 38

The Defence Industrial Strategy 2025 (DIS) 39

Where next? 40

The role of education and civil society in preparing the country for war 41

Why state and society require resilience 42

Chapter 4: Financing our defence 44

War necessitates significant changes to the financial system 44

Funding defence for war rather than for peace 47

The growing problem of investment 49

Chapter 5: Staying abreast of military, economic and technological change: Implications for military organisation, training and equipment 51

Despite rapid change, some things in war stay the same 51

The crucial importance of mass in war 53

Climate change and war preparedness 54

The reorganisation of nation-wide functions and structures that war will necessitate 54

Manpower and skills 58

The design, manufacture and supply of equipment 62

Conclusions and recommendations 70