UK lays out defence plan with drones, self-flying fighter jets, no-crew submarines

Self-flying fighter jets, uncrewed submarines and drones are at the centre of Britain’s future military under a defence plan announced on Tuesday that reflects a world of conflicts transformed by technology. Prime Minister Keir Starmer – who is expected to leave office next month after losing the support of MPs – unveiled his long-delayed Defence Investment Plan. Defence spending will increase to nearly £80 billion (US$105.85 billion) a year by 2029, putting it on a path to hit three per cent of GDP on military expenditure. The defence plan is a road map for how the UK will increase military spending to Nato’s target of 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2035. Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte welcomed Britain’s plan. “Stronger UK defence makes us all safer. This is a good step towards reaching the 3.5% of GDP on defence agreed in The Hague last year,” wrote Rutte on X. With Starmer’s expected successor Andy Burnham due to take power as soon as July 20, the prime minister said new governments could “build” on his blueprint although some critics said the defence plan, delayed for over nine months, was too little, too late. It promises an increase of £15 billion in funding to better equip Britain to fight the wars of the future in a blueprint he described as his legacy. “When the world is arming and aggression is rising, the best way to avoid war is to prepare for it, the best way to defend is to deter – to have the strength to make your adversaries think again before they act,” Starmer told an audience at a defence company in England. He said Britain would spend almost £300 billion (US$397 billion) over the next four years to modernise its armed forces amid rising threats. The new plan prioritises £5 billion (US$6.6 billion) of investment in drones and a focus on autonomous systems to try to modernise and build up its depleted armed forces at a time of rising threats. The plan has been repeatedly delayed as military leaders and Treasury officials wrangled over the cost of equipping the nation’s military for an increasingly dangerous world. Like other Nato countries, the UK is under pressure to increase defence spending to counter a more aggressive Russia and less reliable United States. John Healey resigned as defence secretary on June 11, accusing the government of being unwilling to spend enough on the military at a time of “rising threats”. Healey had argued that UK defence spending must reach three per cent of GDP by 2030, citing a British intelligence assessment that Russia could attack a Nato member country by then. He said that the plan put forward by the Treasury would see spending rise to just 2.68 per cent in 2030, after hitting 2.6 per cent next year. The government said the spending plan had been “refocused” in the past few weeks under Healey’s successor, Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis. It still includes far less than the 28 billion pounds (US$37 billion) that defence officials called for. Starmer said the plan will ensure “our servicemen and women have the cutting-edge capabilities they need to deter evolving threats and keep the British people safe”. The UK military is seeking to reverse years of decline in the face of an increasingly assertive Russia, which invaded its neighbour Ukraine in February 2022, and increasingly tests the defences of European nations with overt and covert activity. The UK has watched how drones have transformed war in Ukraine, which uses 200,000 of them a month to defend against Russian forces. Britain plans to invest billions in drone systems across all branches of the military. Instead of a planned fleet of new destroyers, the Royal Navy will get hybrid vessels that will act as command hubs for drones. Britain and other Nato member nations have faced pressure from US President Donald Trump to increase military spending. Trump has long questioned the value of the military alliance and complained that the United States provides security to European countries that do not pull their weight. The resignations of Healey and junior Defence Minister Al Carns were among a series of blows that prompted Starmer to announce last week that he will resign. He is likely to attend a Nato summit in Turkey on July 7 and 8, in one of his last acts as prime minister. His successor will be under pressure to stick to the commitments in the defence plan. Opposition Conservative Party defence spokesperson James Cartlidge said the defence plan was “too little, too late”. He said it was “almost a year overdue and only being rushed through because Keir Starmer is desperate for a legacy”. Additional reporting by Reuters, Agence France-Presse

UK lays out defence plan with drones, self-flying fighter jets, no-crew submarines

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}While PM Keir Starmer says ‘cutting-edge capabilities’ will help to deter threats, critics say the rising defence budget should be even higher

While PM Keir Starmer says ‘cutting-edge capabilities’ will help to deter threats, critics say the rising defence budget should be even higher