'We are close to another World War': Former top US general warns UK to boost defence spending and build Iron Dome

2 May 2024, 18:23 | Updated: 2 May 2024, 18:51

Former US national security adviser General HR McMaster has said that the we are on the 'cusp of another World War' in a stark warning to Britain to boost defence spending to 4% of GDP.

General McMaster also suggested that the UK should invest in an Iron Dome-style air defence system - to help protect the skies of Britain.

In an interview with LBC's Andrew Marr, the American official said that "it’s a heck of a lot cheaper to prevent a war than have a fight."

Read More: UK in ‘live conversations’ to develop ‘Iron Dome’ defence system, head of Armed Forces tells LBC

He continued: "How about 4%? That would be a historic low relative to Cold War levels.

"I think it's quite urgent for the United Kingdom, the United States, for all nations to invest more in defence.

"What we've seen is we have a huge gap in our defence, industrial base, and in the capacity of all of our services, as well as suffering from a bow wave of deferred modernisation.

"So, I go back to what George Marshall said about the lead into World War II, he said, ‘When you have the time, you don't have the money. And when you have the money, you don't have the time.'

"So, it's important, I think, to spend now on defence, recognising that it's a heck of a lot cheaper to prevent a war than to have to fight."

After the Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Tony Radakin suggested that the UK's air defences were not up-to-scratch and that Britain should create a system similar to the high-tech Iron Dome which protects Israeli airspace, General McMaster agreed.

He said: "I think that every country is going to have to develop these kinds of defences and long-range missiles, hypersonic missiles are important.

"The Iron Dome capabilities are important, but to defeat the hypersonic missiles, what's most important is to be able to defeat them while they're still in the boost phase or to pre-empt their launch.

"And that’s a number of surveillance capabilities, but also for position capabilities. And maybe Ronald Reagan had it right with Star Wars, with space-based capabilities as well."