“The only risk, the only risk that I’m interested in, is that if we have to go to war, we are not ready,” Jenkins said as he opened the International Sea Power Conference 2026. “We can’t afford to be in that position.”
Jenkins said the Navy would have to take some risks to make use of technology it could deploy now. “We have to embrace what is available to us now, because if we find ourselves against an opponent who has done so, and we have not, we will lose,” he said.
Citing war in Europe and conflict in the Gulf, Jenkins said he had never seen such instability in 36 years in the military. He said the Navy had to keep pace with technological change so it could respond if called upon.
“I’m not telling you that war is coming. I’m telling you that instability is here. And our job is to be ready.”
At the International Sea Power Conference, First Sea Lord reinforces the importance of readiness, partnership and maritime security in an uncertain world. https://t.co/UyEBpKbkGA
— Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) November 10, 2026
Jenkins said the public had become less aware of its dependence on the sea as that dependence had grown. He cited oil and gas flows, energy generated at sea and subsea cables, which he said carry more than 95 per cent of the data people rely on.
The conference was due to cover NATO and allied cooperation in the Atlantic, the Baltic and the High North, with General Zaluzhnyi set to speak about lessons from the war in Ukraine. Jenkins said the agenda also included the Pacific, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the maritime chokepoints on which global trade depends.
