Senior military figures have hit back at John Healey’s claim that the Armed Forces are not prepared for war.

       Earlier this week the Defence Secretary warned that while the UK’s military has become “very skilled” at conducting military operations, it was not “ready to fight”.

       However senior Army sources told The Telegraph that should the time come where the UK is engaged in war with Russia, they would “back the British soldier every day”.

       Mr Healey made the comments when discussing how the British military has dedicated a lot of time on operations where they do not actually fight other nations but instead perform evacuations, provide peace support operations or practise fighting with friendly nations.

       The source said that while it was correct that the Army’s “majority” of experience lies in this domain, “we train and test ourselves in real world scenarios”.

       “We have commanders, staff and fighting formations who are focussed on fighting,” he added.

       A second senior Army source pointed to the Integrated Operating Concept which was thought up under General Sir Nick Carter, who served as the head of the military.

       They said it was wrong to accept that the UK’s rivals were “seeking to win without eliciting a warfighting response”, which suggested the days of conventional war were over.

       “This was all well and good until Russia got nasty and everyone realised we might have to fight,” the Army source added.

       It comes after General Sir Roland Walker, the Chief of the General Staff, used his first speech as the new head of the army to warn that the UK needed to be ready to fight a major war in three years, double its ability to kill the enemy by 2027 and triple it by the end of the decade.