Army chiefs insist that thousands more soldiers need to be recruited if Britain is to continue fighting in operations such as Afghanistan.
The force, a senior army source said yesterday, should be increased by 7 per cent to around 108,000 troops. It has been acknowledged for some time that the British Army’s commitment in Helmand province, as well as previous operations in Iraq, has left it overstretched.
The army currently has 101,330 recruits, including full-time reservists, almost 1,000 short of its target. “There is an argument that it should be increased to 107,000 or 108,000,” a senior source said yesterday.
“Manpower is a key capability for land forces. We need to make sure we invest properly in it. Technology and equipment cannot compensate for manpower. The Territorial Army needs to be much more integrated into the regular army than it is now,” he said.
There are 9,500 servicemen and women in Afghanistan, with two other brigades training in preparation for deployment and another in a recovery period. Thousands more troops are committed to other overseas postings, such as Cyprus and the Falklands, to training facilities or are attached to the Royal Navy and RAF. Thousands more are injured or cannot be deployed because of medical reasons.
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