Patrick Mercer: We must prepare our troops for the future and stop looking at the past

So, in difficult financial times what should his priorities be? Put very simply, I believe that we have got to drag the MoD and

its thinking away from the Cold War and into the Information Age. When I was serving, we used the maxim of "find, fix and strike" to inform all of our tactical analysis.

Even 10 years ago, most of this focused upon "striking" ie the destruction of an enemy. Usually, this meant lining up tanks, guns, ships and aircraft against similarly armed enemies and beating the living daylights out of them. But this has changed dramatically and so must

our thinking.

The future will involve small "wars", insurgencies and terrorism – of that I am certain. We need to understand, though, that tiny numbers of determined individuals will cause damage out of all proportion to their size once they have mastered weapons of mass destruction and cyber space.

So, a man in a cave with a computer, if he is competent, doesn't necessarily need to "strike" our forces physically if he can disable them electronically. Dr Fox's number one priority, therefore, must be in "finding" such individuals.

Intelligence is key. At present, too much of our intelligence gathering relies upon talking to humans rather than listening to their conversations or thoughts in cyber space. We have got to be able to "find" much more capably.

Next, "fixing" in my day was a relatively simple matter of physically containing the enemy while you prepared to attack them. "Fixing" small groups of people in remote areas may be as much about constraining them politically as well as militarily and that can only be done by careful investment by our forces in understanding and empathising with the areas in which they will fight.

Lastly, the "strike" element must no longer be thought of as an artillery barrage or a bomber's load. In the days of total media penetration and omnipresent propaganda, precision will be crucial. Look no further than when America makes mistakes with her

drone attacks.

So what should Dr Fox actually do? First, recognise that unconventional forces are the new convention. Certainly, there will be the need for small numbers of "heavy" pieces of equipment such as tanks,

guns, aircraft etc but these will be the exception rather than the rule. Cyber and electronic intelligence gathering equipment and personnel will become the new masters of the battlefield and coupled with this will be high precision and very expensive weaponry.

But, counter-intuitively along with these specialist elements, there will still be the need for mass.

The Army, in particular, is dangerously low on numbers. You can "find" as cleverly as you like, but if you haven't got the manpower to dominate areas then you will quickly lose any effect that you have had.

Witness the successful surge of US troops in Iraq and the one that is now occurring in Afghanistan.

You can't achieve that unless you have got enough boots to put on the ground – but you might be able to do that with more reserves rather than regular forces. Britain has got to start taking her reserves more seriously and understand that standing armies are a grand idea, but that they are awfully expensive.

The nation has got to be realistic about how she projects her power and influence. For my money, the two aircraft carriers that have been ordered should dominate our maritime strategy because they are not just weapons of war; they are floating platforms for reconstruction as well. Influencing outcomes is not just about beating people; it is also about preventing conflict and putting nations back on their feet once it has occurred. Aircraft carriers are remarkably useful for all these things.

We must have a long hard think about our nuclear deterrent, too. Trident is vastly expensive. Do we really need ICBMs to take on the Taliban? The only missiles that we have used in the recent past have been the cheap-as-chips Cruise whose payload can be anything from propaganda to nukes.

Last week, the US made it plain that they were unhappy with the scale of cuts that Britain's defence forces may have to endure, making the reasonable point that Nato cannot be supported by them alone.

I agree, but we have also got to cut our coat to suit our pocket and this week's Strategic Defence Review is a once in a generation opportunity to prepare us for the future rather than preparing us for

the past.

Patrick Mercer is a much-decorated former soldier and the Conservative MP for Newark.