Drone swarms & hypersonic missiles – West isn’t ready for future of war… we’re sitting ducks, says ex-Cobra chief

A former Cobra chief has warned that Europe is unprepared for the devastating new era of warfare.

Colonel Richard Kemp told The Sun that the West has been forced to reconsider how wars are waged because of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and that Europe is unable to protect itself.

Modern weaponry are altering the rules as conflict hotspots in the Middle East and Ukraine blow up throughout the globe.

Unmanned drones and, perhaps in the future, aircraft or tanks are examples of automated weapons made possible by artificial intelligence that don’t require human supervision.

These are less dependable and are unable to explain some things that professionals can.

Chemical and biological weapons will undoubtedly follow as combat technology advances, creating a plethora of terrifying possibilities.

Additionally, British troops commander in Afghanistan, Colonel Kemp, stated that Europe is unprepared for a new era of conflict.

“What we have, for the first time in recent history in Europe since the Second World War, is the clash of two major uniformed armies,” he stated in an interview with The Sun regarding the conflict in Ukraine.

And that necessitates a different mindset.

“What we’re witnessing… is an illustration of a struggle that will have a victor and a loser – far more pronounced than what we witnessed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It’s more than just the distinction between a state-on-state struggle and an insurgency.

The two most significant weapon systems that have been created and spread are the advancements in weapon systems.

“These are precision long-range missiles and drones.”

His remarks follow Ukraine’s November 11 launch of US ATACMS missiles into Russia for the first time, followed two days later by British Storm Shadow rockets.

After being enraged by Kyiv’s employment of Western long-range rockets, Putin has subsequently attacked the beleaguered nation with rockets and drones in retaliation.

In order to keep Russian forces at bay, Ukraine had been pleading with its Western partners for years to permit the use of their missiles and mostly relied on astute drone warfare.

Col. Kemp stated: “In Afghanistan and Iraq, those [drones and missiles] weren’t actually that important. Of course, both Afghanistan and Iraq made extensive use of short-range missiles.

“However, this is a significant shift. And it’s about defense against those things, not simply about using drones and long-range missiles.

“I recall that when I first enlisted in the Army, a sizable portion of the US Army and the British Army were getting ready to battle back the Russians in Germany.

Massed tank formations flooding across the inner German border were repelled by other troops stationed in Germany.

“One could argue that such a threat is no longer present. Although it doesn’t exist in our country, it does exist in Ukraine.

“What does exist now, much more than ever before, is the potential to use large numbers of long-range precision guided missiles fired from Russia and drones fired over very long distances.”

Last week, drones inexplicably surfaced near three US air bases in the UK, raising concerns about a potential Russian threat in light of Putin’s ire over British Storm Shadow rockets hitting his country.

Over the 40-meter RAF airbase that would host US nuclear weapons, a fleet of “unmanned aerial devices” was spotted.

The Sun is aware that the RAF used its ORCUS counterdrone weaponry, which can jam enemy drone signals and allow friendly forces to seize control.

However, Col. Kemp stated that we should continue to be mindful of drone “swarms,” which are “becoming more possible.”

“To have large scale, drone swarms powered by artificial intelligence, which threaten our country,” he stated.

Col. Kemp issued the following stern warning: “We are not capable of defending against that.

It poses a direct threat to our country and has the ability to cause significant harm to it, making it a very real threat for the future.

“In the Middle East, we have witnessed the widespread employment of drones and missiles.

Consequently, I believe that one of our priorities for the future should be to increase our own offensive capabilities through the use of long-range missiles and drones.

“And secondly, a huge amount more emphasis on dealing with those attacks – using those systems on our own country.”

In a way, it’s similar to Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars, he said, where he envisioned an Israeli Iron Dome-style war that would encompass both the US and Europe but would mostly target nuclear missiles, which would undoubtedly pose the biggest threat.

However, Europe currently needs a complete defense against the employment of missiles and drones.

Additionally, terrorist groups as well as Russia are responsible.

“It certainly is not beyond the bounds of possibility for organisations like al-Qaida or the Islamic State to obtain these systems and fire them from a range of different places at us.”

‘WOEFULLY UNPREPARED’

According to earlier reports from The Sun, the People’s Liberation Army in China is utilizing a variety of innovative technologies in combat.

It seems that Xi’s forces are considering biological and cognitive weapons, which are intended to put their adversaries to sleep, reduce their awareness, and harm their ability to make decisions.

Anthony Glees, a professor at the University of Buckingham who specializes in intelligence and security, discussed the future of war with The Sun.

As the landscape changes to rely more heavily on drones or artificial intelligence (AI), he said he is “deeply anxious” about Europe’s readiness.

“War will change,” he remarked. We are dreadfully unprepared for how future conflicts will unfold.

In recent weeks, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and the right-hand man of incoming President Donald Trump, has made some harsh remarks regarding conventional combat.

Musk blasted America’s most dependable combat fighters, the F-35s, while serving as the new co-chair of a Department of Government Efficiency, which is effectively a task force focused on cutting costs.

On his social networking platform X, he posted the following message over a video showing hundreds of drones: “Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35.”

“The F-35 design was flawed at the requirements level because it had to accomplish too many things for too many people,” he continued.

Because of this, it was a costly and intricate jack of all trades and a master of none. The list of potential outcomes never included success.

Furthermore, in the era of drones, manned combat jets are no longer relevant. will only result in pilot deaths.

Prof. Glees stated: “He is correct… drones will always be a part of combat in the future.

“It’s blindingly obvious that drones, warplanes that have no pilots are going to be a really important feature of warfare in the future.”

But he countered: “Of course you’re always going to need pilots. He’s quite wrong about that.

“You do still continue to need fighter planes, jets with pilots that can fire.

“I mean storm shadow, for example, is strapped to an aircraft, and that’s how it’s fired.”

Prof Glees insisted that despite developments in AI, remotely-powered weaponry or drone tech, we will “always need people”.

He said AI can never fully replace or match the quality of “boots on the ground”, because it will never have the “spirit or morale of an army”.

Yet he warned that countries like China, who have “always been ahead” in leading combat technology, will have an advantage.

“We’ve always underestimated the Chinese. In any case, we know the Chinese are very interested in subverting what we do here in the United Kingdom.”

He said he wants to see “our Government do far more to make sure that the British people understand whatever the future of warfare looks like”.

But he added: “The thing that won’t change is the readiness of the British people in our case to fight for their liberty.”