The need to win the information war concerns General Sir Gordon Messenger more than the latest model of tank, fast jet or warship.

Hardware still has a role, but the vice-chief of the defence staff wants to see an evolution in the military mind-set about the importance of using data to help defeat and destroy an enemy.

“We have to wake up to the idea that our ability to turn data into information advantage, our ability to respond faster through cleverer decision-making which is enabled by the flow of information, is actually frankly as important if not even more important than whether our tanks out-range an anti-tank missile,” General Messenger, 55, told The Times.

“I am not saying you don’t need physical capability, you