The head of the British armed forces warns that the world is on the verge of a third nuclear age

Britain is on the precipice of a "third nuclear age" in which it must face multiple threats, the head of the armed forces of Great Britain has warned. Independent.

In an annual speech at the Royal United Services Institute's defense institute in London, Chief of the Defense Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said Britain and its Western allies were facing "savage threats" from the China-Russia alliance. , Iran and North Korea, Telegraph reports.

After the first phase of the nuclear era during the Cold War and the second era defined by disarmament, Radakin said the world is now entering a third era in which nuclear threats and exercises are again becoming more widespread.

"From Russia, we have seen wild threats of tactical nuclear use, large-scale nuclear exercises and simulated attacks against NATO countries, all designed to force us to take the necessary actions to maintain stability." , he said.

"China's nuclear build-up presents a dual challenge to the United States. Iran's failure to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency is a concern, and North Korea's ballistic missile program and erratic behavior pose a regional and, increasingly, a global threat," the British military chief added. .

He told the audience that Britain needed to be "clear-eyed in our assessment" of the threats it faces, adding: "This includes accepting that there is only a remote chance of a significant direct attack or invasion by Russia in the United Kingdom, and that's the same for all of NATO."

Moscow "knows that the response will be overwhelming", he added, but warned that the nuclear deterrent must "be kept strong and strengthened".

"We are at the dawn of a third nuclear age, which is altogether more complex. It is defined by multiple and simultaneous dilemmas, spreading nuclear and destructive technologies, and by the almost total absence of the security architectures that were there before," said Radakin. /Telegraph/