A 'third nuclear age' threatens the West, a top military official has warned

The world is at the start of a “third nuclear age” when Britain is threatened by multiple enemies including Russia, the head of the military has warned.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said the “wild threats to use nuclear weapons” by Russia and China, Iran's failure to cooperate with the nuclear deal, and North Korea's “ambiguous behavior” are some of the threats facing the West.

He called for more funding and reforms at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) on Wednesday.

Despite the warnings, Sir Tony said there was only a “remote possibility” Russia would attack or attack the UK if the two countries were at war.

Sir Tony added that Russian President Vladimir Putin was aware of the UK's nuclear weapons and said they had a greater impact on him than other threats.

Successive British governments have invested “a lot of money” in refurbishing nuclear submarines and warheads as a result, he said.

Sir Tony said Britain needed to “take a hard look at our assessment” of the threats it faced.

“That includes recognizing that there is a remote possibility of a direct attack or an attack by Russia on the United Kingdom, and that is the same across NATO,” he told the audience.

He said it was necessary to keep the UK's nuclear deterrent strong, describing the first nuclear era as the Cold War and the second characterized by disarmament efforts and “non-proliferation”.

“We are at the beginning of the third nuclear age, which is very complex,” he said.

This time is more dangerous than any we know in his career and the world is more competitive than ever, he said.

The military chief needs the support of many people to get more funding, so he said he wants to strengthen the nation's resolve and give people a sense of what he calls the tragedy of war without facing it. Hence his stark warning about the threat level.

A spokesman for the prime minister's office said Defense Secretary John Healey had spoken about “the state of the military inherited from the previous government”.

A spokesman said: “That's why the Budget has invested billions of dollars in defence, and that's why we're undertaking a strategic defense review to ensure we have the skills and investment needed to protect this country.”

The army chief's comments came as defense minister Alistair Carns warned of a major war that would see the army wiped out within six to 12 months.

He told an audience in the same arena that Britain needed reserves to be able to fight a “war of scale”.

Official figures show the army had 109,245 personnel on 1 October, including 25,814 volunteers.