Dannatt, paying his last visit to Afghanistan before retiring later this month, also said he would like to see "more energy" put into speeding up the provision of equipment to UK troops.
He was transported around Afghanistan by a US Black Hawk helicopter from a pool of resources shared by British and American forces, and said it was important that the UK was able to put as much into that pool as it took out.
"I have said before, we can have effect where we have boots on the ground. I don't mind whether the feet in those boots are British, American or Afghan, but we need more to have the persistent effect to give the people [of Helmand] confidence in us," Dannatt told BBC Radio 4's Today programme:
In the town of Sangin, the scene of fighting between British troops and the Taliban over recent years, control had been imposed to such an extent that local people were willing to bring their goods to what is now a bustling market, he said. That could only be maintained by a security presence on the ground.
Asked whether Britain's 9,100-strong force in Afghanistan has the equipment it needs, Dannatt said: "We have got a plan to increase the amount of campaign equipment we have got. It has probably not moved as fast as I would have liked it to have moved, but we are increasing the numbers.
"I would like to get more energy behind it if we possibly can."
Noting that he was being transported in a US helicopter, Dannatt said: "There is a pool and we share the assets, but we have got to put as much into the pool as we take out.
"We are reworking a number of Chinook helicopters – eight – which will come on line soon, and a number of Merlins that were previously in Iraq … Air mobility is a key enabler and I know the commanders need a lot of that."
After 15 British deaths so far this month in Afghanistan, Dannatt said it was "a sad fact and part of reality" that casualties would occur during operations to tackle the Taliban insurgency.
"Of course, we do the absolute maximum we can to protect our people and give them as good equipment as we can, but we are pushing to increase our influence and increase the number of people who are exposed to our influence," he said. "When we push, inevitably there is a possibility of taking casualties."
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