Bangladesh, June 19 -- Britain is confronting a growing defense funding crisis after senior military and political figures issued stark warnings that the countrys armed forces may soon be unable to sustain routine operations without significant increases in government spending.

The warning came this week from Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton, the United Kingdoms Chief of the Defence Staff, during testimony before a House of Lords committee. Knighton cautioned that the armed forces would be forced to scale back training exercises, operational deployments and day-to-day military activities unless additional funding is secured from the Treasury. He further warned that current resource allocations may be insufficient to support normal mili...