Vladimir Putin faces ‘huge cost’ if he threatens other countries, warns Navy chief

Sir Ben revealed that he had spoken to Amiral Pierre Vandier, his French counterpart, about The Telegraph’s recent disclosure that British officials suspected Exocet missiles used in the Falklands war contained a “kill switch” that could disable them but France denied such a device had been inserted into the weapons.

“When I was speaking to my French opposite number about it, his single comment to me was‘ if we found this kill switch could we let him know, because it would be quite helpful for him to know about ’,” Sir Ben said.

Falklands veterans have joined calls for an inquiry into the allegations that France withheld secrets about the weapon. Sir Ben said that while there has been “no evidence made available to us of this capability”, he would not stand in the way of an inquiry.

As the former Chief of Joint Operations, he oversaw numerous missions around the world including Operation Pitting, in which 15,000 people were evacuated from Kabul. Insiders believed the success secured his promotion to head of the Navy.

Sir Ben, who also held the position of Fleet Commander, joined the Navy as a university cadet and went on to qualify as both helicopter aircrew and as a chief warfare officer. He has seen service around the world in a variety of frigates and destroyers.

Closer to home, he has pledged to work on issues such as gender inequality and vowed to take on “toxic” leaders to help women in the force. He acknowledged that, despite some progress, there remained a long way to go until gender parity was achieved.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do – the day we think we’ve cracked it is the day that we fall massively behind,” he said.

Sir Ben said that while he felt “excited by the prospects” for the Navy’s future, he could not yet confidently say it had learned how to treat men and women equally.

“Have we solved that everybody who comes to work in the Royal Navy brings out their best and is recognized for that, rewarded and applauded for that and feels comfortable in an environment? Have we got that right for everybody at the moment? No, ”he said.

Sir Ben’s comments followed the recent publication of a damning report by the Commons defense select committee which resulted in his predecessor, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, now the Chief of the Defense Staff, admitting that the military had failed to value servicewomen.