"The situation is more dangerous than I have known during my career and the response requires more than simply strengthening our armed forces," Richard Knighton, chief of the defence staff, is expected to say in a speech Monday, according to a ministry statement.

"A new era for defence doesn't just mean our military and government stepping up -- as we are -- it means our whole nation stepping up."

To that end, he will announce pound50 million ($67 million) in funding for new "Defence Technical Excellence Colleges" to help defence employers train up staff.

Knighton is also expected to speak about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its threat to NATO.

"Putin's willingness to target neighbouring states, including their civilian populations, potentially with such novel and destructive weapons, threatens the whole of NATO, including the UK," he will say.

"The Russian leadership has made clear that it wishes to challenge, limit, divide and ultimately destroy NATO."

Knighton will set out his ideas in a speech to the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a think tank specialising in defence matters.

He led Britain's Royal Air Force before taking over as chief of defence staff in September.

Earlier in December, Britain and Norway unveiled a new defence pact that will see their navies jointly operate a warship fleet to "hunt Russian submarines" in the North Atlantic.

The aim is to protect critical undersea infrastructure, such as cables, which Western officials say is increasingly under threat from Moscow.