LONDON — UK has said it plans to boost its "hollowed out" armed forces to make sure it is prepared to face what the head of a defence review called a "deadly quartet" comprising China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.

The government named George Robertson, the former Nato secretary-general, on July 16 to lead a review of Britain's armed forces and report back in the first half of 2025.

Robertson, a former British defence minister in the late 1990s who ran Nato from 1999 to 2003, said the armed forces needed to be battle-ready, given the threat level.

"We're confronted by a deadly quartet of nations increasingly working together, and we in this country, and the Nato alliance that met so successfully last week, have got to be able to confront that particular quartet, as well as the other problems," he told British media.

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