UK Defence Chiefs Unveil ‘Fortitude’ Plan for Mass Mobilisation of Military and Civilian Volunteers

The Ministry of Defence unveiled “Fortitude”, a four-strand strategy—Reliance, Sentinel, Genesis and Forge—to ready Britain for war on its own soil. Genesis calls for a “mass mobilisation” of tens of thousands of extra regulars, reservists and civilian volunteers. Sentinel will protect military bases, energy plants and major transport hubs, while Reliance and Forge tighten coordination between the armed forces, police, fire services, local councils and resilience forums.

iNews

Defence officials warn that long-range missiles, cyber attacks and hybrid warfare have left the United Kingdom “in danger at home”, prompting a shift from an expeditionary defence posture to protecting the homeland against simultaneous, multi-domain threats, especially from an increasingly aggressive Russia.

iNews

Lieutenant General Paul Griffiths, overseeing homeland defence, called Genesis “our mass mobilisation” to expand the military workforce and civilian support, adding that joint commands at the lowest level will “connect to society” and foster an inclination to serve. Lieutenant General Sir Charles Collins, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, warned that the UK is “in danger at home” from long-range and hybrid threats, noting that the traditional expeditionary concept no longer fully applies. Damian Johnson, the MoD’s director of Homeland Security, said the department is “updating our plans”, is “drawing up military war plans at the moment”, and that the upcoming NATO wargame “Steadfast Defender” is described as the biggest mobilisation drill since the Cold War era.

iNews

Analysts point out that the Defence Investment Plan, which would fund the expanded force structure, remains unpublished, and the Defence Readiness Bill will not be introduced to Parliament until next year. Without a clear investment roadmap, critics question whether the ambitious scale of Fortitude can be fully implemented.

iNews

• “‘Largest mobilisation exercise since the Cold War’ Referring to Genesis, Griffiths added: “This is our mass mobilisation, and how we would go ahead with increasing the size of the military workforce and the civilian volunteers to support us in time of crisis and conflict.” — Lieutenant General Paul Griffiths, Armed Forces commander overseeing homeland defence plans

iNews

• “We use the joint military commands at the very bottom of the organisation to connect to society, generate the inclination to serve and then pull them in as required.” — Lieutenant General Paul Griffiths

iNews

• “largest mobilisation exercise since the Cold War” — Damian Johnson, director of Homeland Security at the MoD

iNews

• “That’s not something we are pursuing at the moment.” — Lieutenant General Sir Charles Collins, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (on return to national service)

iNews

The UK will join the NATO “Steadfast Defender” wargame in 2025 to test civilian-military integration. The MoD expects to publish the Defence Investment Plan soon and to introduce the Defence Readiness Bill to Parliament next year, establishing the legislative framework for Fortitude.

iNews