Britain to mobilise thousands of veterans in major war drill amid growing threat from Russia

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The UK's 95,000-strong strategic reserve will be tested 'on a scale we haven't seen for a long time'

Britain is preparing to call up military veterans for a major mobilisation exercise next year as the country strengthens its ability to respond to the growing threat from Russia.

Former members of the Army, Royal Navy and RAF will be drawn from the UK's 95,000-strong strategic reserve to test whether they can be contacted, mobilised and equipped during a crisis.

Armed Forces Minister Louise Sandher-Jones said the reserve would be exercised "on a scale we haven't seen for a long time", although the number of veterans taking part has yet to be confirmed.

The exercise will provide a major test of a system which senior defence figures have previously warned is ill-equipped to keep track of personnel after they leave the Armed Forces.

Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, who led last year's strategic defence review, has said officials did not "know where most" members of the reserve were and called on the Government to "round up those who are available and fit and willing".

Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton has also warned that Britain lacks an "effective system of tracking and engaging" people who have recently left military service.

Setting out the plans before the House of Lords' national resilience committee on Monday, Ms Sandher-Jones said: "The strategic reserve is a real commitment for those that are in it and they will be exercised as part of our exercise programme next year where we will go through measures to call out, use, equip and all the rest of the procedures we'd have to go through to use the strategic reserve properly."

The former Army officer said the pool of ex-service personnel would have an important role in Britain's future defence, despite having been "a lot less used in my lifetime".

She added: "When I left the Army and found out I was in the strategic reserve, I just filed it away and never thought about it again. We are definitely no longer in that space."

The strategic reserve comprises former military personnel who retain a liability to be recalled after leaving service.

It is separate from Britain's nearly 32,000 active reservists, who voluntarily serve in the Armed Forces on a part-time basis.

Existing legislation means all former regular and reserve officers can be recalled throughout their lives, while the MoD is required to maintain contact with former personnel for six years after they leave full-time service.

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The Government is also expanding its ability to mobilise veterans under the new Armed Forces Bill, with the maximum call-up age set to increase from 55 to 65.

Ministers are lowering the circumstances in which former personnel can be mobilised from "national danger, great emergency or attack in the UK" to "war-like preparations".

The changes are expected to come into force next spring, as Britain steps up preparations for the possibility of a major conflict.

Defence planners have increasingly warned that the UK could find itself confronting Russia before the end of the decade as tensions between Moscow and Nato continue to mount.

Russia has threatened strikes against British factories involved in producing drones for Ukraine, while Western intelligence officials have warned that Moscow's sabotage campaign across Europe risks a "miscalculation" which could lead to a wider conflict.

The preparations come as Britain's regular Army stands at around 71,000 fully trained personnel ready for frontline deployment — its smallest size in more than 200 years.

There are signs that years of declining Armed Forces numbers could be beginning to reverse, with the MoD announcing last week that recruitment exceeded departures across the full-time forces over an entire year for the first time since 2021.

The gains remain modest, with the Army increasing by 170 personnel, the RAF by 840 and the Royal Navy and Royal Marines by 440.

Meanwhile, questions have been raised over current military readiness after training for some soldiers in the Army's 3rd Division was reportedly cancelled as part of cost-cutting measures, including the suspension of live-firing exercises until April.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham is also facing pressure over Labour's defence spending plans, with Chancellor John Healey not expected to commit to spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence by 2030 in next month's Budget.

The mobilisation exercise will form part of wider efforts to test Britain's national resilience and its ability to rapidly expand its military capacity in the event of a crisis.