Army is ordered to STOP training with major war games scrapped in ‘unprecedented’ move as MoD faces running out of cash

THE Army has been ordered to stop training in an historic blow to Britain’s defences as the MoD runs out of cash. Major war games have been scrapped with immediate effect and soldiers left “twiddling their thumbs”. Army war drills with more than 90 soldiers were immediately put on ice Credit: Sergio Amiti Prime Minister Andy Burnham has refused to say how or when he plans to hike defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030 Credit: Getty An Army wide directive ordered all units to cease “collective training” unless they are next to deploy on a mission. Drills with more than 90 soldiers were immediately put on ice. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! It included a six week war game with Challenger 2 tanks and Apache gunships that was due to start in Wales next week. Ex-Army Chief General Sir Patrick Sanders fumed it was “unbelievably short sighted”. War hero Justin Maciejewski DSO, who runs the National Army Museum, said: “This is a scandal. “It is unprecedented in the history of the Army since World War Two and given the seriousness of the threats we are facing it shows a national dereliction of duty.” Details emerged after President Putin issued a thinly veiled threat to strike Britain. Asked if Russia would strike UK sites he said: “It’s a secret. It’s a military secret.” Most read in The Sun The Royal Navy and RAF have also been ordered do do less to save money – but the impact is less severe. Only troops who are due to deploy overseas or assume a standby role in Britain will continue to train as normal at the company or battlegroup level. An Army source insisted: “This is not our decision. It has been forced on us.” The cuts are due to a shortage of cash for in-year running costs, The Sun understands. It is a separate pot of money from investments major weapons programmes like ships and fighter jets. The MoD insisted the Army was “prioritising training” based on lessons from Ukraine. Desktop drills will continue for Top Brass in headquarters to practise commanding large scale conflicts. And soldiers will still train in small groups, on basic skill like driving and weapons handing. They will also get trained on drones. A source said: “A tank crew train together as a crew but they won’t get to train as a squadron of tanks.” Top Brass admitted the orders risked giving the impression the were neglecting Britain’s defences. A source said: “Commanding officers were told to keep this a very close hold and communicate it very carefully because it could give the impression that we are not taking preparations for war seriously.” They added: “This is absolutely devastating. Army’s train, that is what they do. “Now nothing is going to happen – everything is cancelled and commanding officers have 600 blokes with nothing to do.” Prime Minister Andy Burnham has refused to say how or when he plans to hike defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030. Chancellor John Healey resigned as defence secretary over Keir Starmer’s failure to set out path. But the Treasury confirmed last week that Healey has shelved the 3 per cent target ahead of budget next month. Labour’s Defence Investment Plan pledged £2bn more for training but it doesn’t kick in until next year. War games have been trimmed repeatedly to save cash in the past, but sources insisted the latest cuts were significantly more severe. One said: “The closest parallel was in the 1970s fuel crisis when the forces were ordered to use less petrol.” In 1973 the forces were ordered to cut fuel consumption by 10 per cent. The Army said: “Through the Defence Investment Plan, we recently announced £2 billion to transform training for the British Army over the next 15 years. “That investment makes it all the more important that we prioritise activity that contributes most directly to readiness, deployability and operational effectiveness. That training continues.”