Chief of Defence Intelligence comments on threats the UK will face in coming decades
Lieutenant-General Jim Hockenhull looks to the future, outlining the changing character of the threat and the role of UK Defence

Sep 13, Ministry of Defence: The UK’s adversaries are developing new ways of operating, backed up by cutting edge military capabilities that leverage advanced technologies, the Chief of Defence Intelligence today warns.
In the first-ever media briefing at Defence Intelligence’s Cambridgeshire base, Lt Gen Hockenhull has said that the shifting global picture has changed the character of warfare in ways that will challenge the West to keep pace with adversaries who do not play by the rules.
Global players such as Russia and China continually challenge the existing order without prompting direct conflict, operating in the expanding grey-zone between war and peacetime.
Conflict is bleeding into new domains, such as cyber and space, threatening our cohesion, our resilience and our global interests.
Chief of Defence Intelligence, Lieutenant-General Jim Hockenhull said:
Whilst conventional threats remain, we have seen our adversaries invest in Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and other ground-breaking technologies, whilst also supercharging more traditional techniques of influence and leverage.
As we have seen in Salisbury, hostile states are willing to take incredible risks. We must make sure that we have both the intent and the capability to ensure that such wanton acts of irresponsibility will not go unpunished.