The U.K. will spend at least £3 billion on long-range weapons, housing facilities and arms factories as it seeks to revive its defense industry and gear up for a potential conflict with Russia.
London will build six new munitions factories, restart shipbuilding for its navy and commit to new anti-missile defense shields as part of a major defense review to be published on Monday. It also reportedly is exploring buying American fighter jets capable of launching tactical nuclear weapons.
British Defense Secretary John Healey said the new strategy is designed to send a “message to Moscow” as it continues to wage war in Ukraine. “This is Britain standing behind making our Armed Forces stronger but making our industrial base stronger, and this is part of our readiness to fight if required,” he added.
“We are being directly threatened by states with advanced military forces, so we must be ready to fight and win,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in an opinion piece in the Sun ahead of the strategy’s publication.
The wide-ranging military review comes amid a broader push in Europe to revitalize countries’ depleted defense sectors as top generals warn that Russia could launch a large-scale conflict on the continent by the end of the decade. In Brussels, the EU has announced a plan to unlock up to €800 billion in new military spending.
NATO allies are currently debating increasing their defense spending commitments to 5 percent of GDP ahead of the military alliance’s yearly summit later this month, partly in response to repeated criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump that countries are not stumping up enough cash.
On Saturday, Healey vowed the U.K. would dedicate 3 percent of its economic output to defense by 2034, potentially translating to more than £10 billion in fresh spending each year.
As part of its new strategy, Britain’s center-left Labour government will commit to spending £1.5 billion on urgent upgrades to military accommodation, support the procurement of 7,000 British-made long-range weapons and fork out another £1.5 billion on “munitions and energetics factories” that it says will create 1,800 jobs across the country.
It will also reportedly recommend setting up an underwater surveillance program to protect against threats to subsea critical infrastructure threats and bringing back a volunteer home guard to protect infrastructure like airports from drone or other unexpected attacks.
The 130-page analysis, prepared by a team led by former NATO chief George Robertson, primarily focuses on the “immediate and pressing” danger posed by Russia, but it is also expected to describe China as a “sophisticated and persistent challenge.”
The post UK announces billions in fresh defense splurge amid worries about Russia appeared first on Politico.
