Britain's air defences are "not it for purpose" and ignore evolutions in warfare, experts warned last night. It follows the damning conclusion of war games, in which Russian missiles successfully penetrated Europe's missile defences to hit the UK.

Details of the simulation, carried out in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, were revealed last week by Air Commodore Blythe Crawford, head of the RAF Air and Space Warfare Centre - and his conclusion was a grim one. "We have stood for years at the western edge of Europe feeling as though the rest of the continent stood between us and the enemy," he told a gathering at the RUSI think tank in London. "We in the UK over the last few decades have become focused on being garrison safe and making assumptions that we are safe to operate from the home base because most of the wars we've been fighting have been overseas. We need to reverse that thinking and assume that, from here on, we're under threat in the home base now as well."

The simulation - part of the RAF's £36million Gladiator programme - looked at how 'day one' of the conflict would unfold, with the UK facing hundreds of different types of munitions' attacking from various directions. Many hit their targets.

The Ministry of Defence has begun to take steps to improve the UK's missile defences.

But earlier this month the Sunday Express warned how these plans would still leave British towns and cities undefended from the type of missile and drone attacks that is carrying out in .

Current plans include the bulding of a European Sky Shield Initiative and the UK-led DIAMOND initiative to integrate NATO's missile defences. But these are in their infancy

A separate £250m project spearheaded by the UK Missile Defence Centre (MDC) tasked with examining how best to counter a large array of missile threats will deliver its conclusions in six years' time.

If a plan to mount a post-peace treaty UK-led stabilisation force on soil materialises, potential reprisals will mean that Britain may not have the luxury of six years.

"Britain gave up on the idea of protecting towns and cities during the Cold War - we're just too big," said Airpower expert Justin Bronk of the RUSI tank-tank.

"Patriot systems and their missiles cost around £1 billion each. Missiles cost $10m each. If you buy two, where would you place them? Who would you leave out?"

With defensive systems costing on average 10 times more than offensive ones, the focus will be to take the fight to the enemy, he said.

Last night former NATO planner Philip Ingram said: "Our air defences are not fit for purpose. We are hugely vulnerable

"The problem is that we are still working on the assumption that this is a lateral threat, going from east to west, and that Continental Europe will do the heavy lifting for us in intercepting Russian missiles before they get there.

"That scenario is problematic enough. But, of course, the threat from the Atlantic in the West is just as important."

The best defence against that - other than a British submarine - is the RAF's fleet of 9 Poseidon P-8 maritime patrol aircraft which boast powerful sensors and the ability to drop sophisticated sonobuoys and torpedos.

But given that their duties range from protecting Trident-carrying submarines and commercial shipping to undersea cables and even oil rigs, the UK requires at least 15. We have nine.

He added: "Our P8 surveillance aircraft are based at Lossiemouth They can only respond to a Russian submarine threat after that submarine has launched its first missile. What if that first strike is a salvo, which tales out Lossiemouth?"

An MOD spokesman said: "The UK stands fully prepared to defend itself against any threat alongside our NATO allies.

"Our military is equipped with a range of advanced capabilities to provide a layered approach to air and missile defence.

"This includes the world-class Sea Viper missile system which has successfully shot down a Houthi rebel ballistic missile and attack drones in the Red Sea."