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Nick Reynolds, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said the Russian air force retained much of its capacity, because it had avoided risky operations into Ukrainian airspace and limited its losses....Reynolds added that while recruitment and procurement was focused on replacing human and equipment losses in Ukraine, a Ukrainian defeat or a ceasefire on terms favourable to Russia could free forces committed there, “which would be primed for potential redeployment”. Any pause in fighting in Ukraine would allow Russia to rebuild significant stockpiles, and the rise in oil prices had thrown the Russian economy a temporary lifeline, which would be likely to allow Russia’s high defence expenditure to continue, he added. “The current situation is extremely threatening to European countries, though that threat cannot manifest while the Ukrainian armed forces continue to resist the ongoing full-scale invasion.”

Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow in sea power at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said mine-clearing and creating a warning system for maritime threats were more likely roles for the coalition than warships escorting commercial tankers though the strait. "You need huge numbers of vessels for that sort of thing, which nobody has," he said.

There are a number of checks that you go through if you’re employed by the government. But the big two are security check, if you’re using secret material, and developed vetting, if you’re using lots of top secret material,” Matthew Savill, a former civil servant with experience of the vetting process, told Times Radio. Any official who needs access to top-secret material or simply works alongside people who do must undergo the security clearance, Savill, now director of military sciences at Royal United Services Institute, added.