British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Friday that Britain should continue to engage in "hard" and "soft" power to meet the current challenges in the changing world.

Addressing on board HMS Albion in the southern English naval port of Plymouth, Blair said, "Today's security threat is qualitatively new and different; that the combination of hard and soft power is still the right course for our country."

But Blair stressed that military might was essential to winning the war on terror.

"Terrorism can't be defeated by military means alone. But it can't be defeated without it," said he.

British Armed Forces needed to be "warfighters as well as peacekeepers" to face challenges such as terrorism and poverty, Blair said.

"So my choice is for Armed forces that are prepared to engage in this difficult, tough, challenging campaign, to be warfighters as well as peacekeepers," said Blair.

During his speech, Blair also warned that the threat posed by terrorism would take a "generation" to defeat, and to retreat from the challenge would be a "catastrophe."

"The battle will be long. It has taken a generation for the enemy to grow. It will, in all probability take a generation to defeat," he said.

"To retreat in the face of this threat would be a catastrophe. It would strengthen this global terrorism; proliferate it; expand its circle of sympathizers," said Blair.