Andy Burnham told to build warship armada NOW as Navy chief warns Putin is ‘greatest threat’ to Britain

ANDY Burnham must turn Britain into a naval superpower to counter Vladimir Putin’s fleet, the head of the Navy says. General Sir Gwyn Jenkins is demanding more warships and drones are urgently built to protect the Atlantic from Russian aggression. Britain must become a naval superpower to counter Vladimir Putin’s fleet, head of Navy warns Credit: Getty General Sir Gwyn Jenkins is demanding more warships and drones are urgently built to protect the Atlantic from Russian aggression Credit: Royal Navy Moscow is understood to be targeting undersea cables around the UK. The First Sea Lord insisted in a major speech that the UK must “strengthen our warfighting readiness”. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! His warning comes as Andy Burnham is under pressure from top brass to spend 3 per cent of GDP by 2030. The government has only committed to spending 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2035. The PM told MPs last week that national security must not come at the expense of social security. The Navy chief said: “The greatest threat to our security today is Russia. “Russia retains advanced submarines that are increasingly difficult to track, long-range precision weapons, and specialist systems designed to operate deep underwater.” He added: “Russia is probing, testing and mapping. It seeks advantage in the grey zone, particularly around the critical undersea infrastructure on which modern societies rely. Most read in The Sun “And among Ukraine’s Western allies, Russia considers us to be one of its greatest foes. “We know that Russia is probing us for weakness. And we are facing threats in a way we have not been since the Cold War.” Comment now