UK left with 'no more heavy guns' after helping Ukraine fight against Russia: Report

The United Kingdom is facing a massive shortage of weapons due to Downing Street’s decision to send guns to Ukraine. According to a report published by The Sun, two Royal Artillery regiments were left completely disarmed, and the British War hawks are now making efforts to convince taxpayers to submit to a surge in military spending. 

Also, the Defence Secretary of the UK, Ben Wallace has pledged to immediately replace the weapons by spending £ 800 million on “mobile fires programme”. This development came as all of the UK’s 30 serviceable AS-90 self-propelled artillery guns were sent to Ukrainian forces.

Why is the UK facing a shortage of heavy guns?

"The decision to give them away has stripped two Royal Artillery regiments, based on Salisbury Plain, Wilts, of all their working weapons," wrote the outlet, which added that an artillery source told them: "If gunners don’t have guns, we can’t fight, we can’t train." The former head of the UK’s Joint Forces Command, retired General Richard Barrons, claimed that the fighting capabilities of British forces have been "hollowed out by spending cuts." He further said that "years of cuts to ammunition production mean that, for some types of key weapons, the army would run out in a busy afternoon."

Barrons opined that the UK's military has now come down to "tier two," a designation that is shared by countries including Germany and Italy, rather than "tier one." He suggested that the British government needs to send more funds to strengthen the country's military power.

Also, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has reiterated that the British military has been left "hollowed out and underfunded" in light of his government’s continuous support for Ukraine. "As the world gets more dangerous, defence should get a growing proportion of spending," he reportedly urged.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the UK's defence ministry told MailOnline, "The granting in kind of AS 90 will provide an important increase in Ukraine's capabilities and will help to accelerate Ukrainian success on the battlefield. Concurrently, the Army is continuing to meet its operational AS90 commitment in Estonia," he added. The British army is now focused on increasing the "Mobile Fires Platform project, which is designed to deliver an enduring replacement this decade," and work is "being undertaken at pace to replace AS90 in the short term."

Image: AP