Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced the biggest strengthening of the UK’s national defence in a generation, with a fully funded plan to grow the defence budget to 2.5% of GDP by 2030.
Delivering a speech alongside NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Poland, a country at the vanguard of the continent’s defence, the Prime Minister said we are at a turning point in European security and urged allies to step up.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:
“In a world that is the most dangerous it has been since the end of the Cold War, we cannot be complacent. As our adversaries align, we must do more to defend our country, our interests, and our values.
“That is why today I have announced the biggest strengthening of our national defence for a generation. We will increase defence spending to a new baseline of 2.5% of GDP by 2030 – a plan that delivers an additional £75 billion for defence by the end of the decade and secures our place as by far the largest defence power in Europe.
“Today is a turning point for European security and a landmark moment in the defence of the United Kingdom. It is a generational investment in British security and British prosperity, which makes us safer at home and stronger abroad.”
The war in Ukraine has taught us that battlefield success is dependent on the ability to surge defence production and move to ‘always on’ production to replenish key equipment. We will therefore invest a further £10 billion over the next ten years, most of which will be spent with British industry, to grow our domestic munitions production pipeline and increase stockpiles, setting a clear demand signal for industry through long term multi-year contracts. This represents nearly a doubling of our current spending on munitions production.
The investment will focus on key high-tech capabilities, including air defence missiles and anti-armour munitions, in addition to continued investment in UK-built 155mm artillery ammunition. Defence already supported more than 400,000 jobs in 2021/22 - the equivalent of 1 in every 70 UK jobs – but today’s announcement will support new high-quality jobs and economic growth across all parts of the UK.
Reforms set out by the Prime Minister will also ensure we are investing in the right technologies and getting more for taxpayers’ money when it comes to defence.
A newly created Defence Innovation Agency will manage scaled up investment in R&D, bringing together the fragmented defence innovation landscape into a single responsible organisation. This includes R&D in new weapons systems such as Directed Energy Weapons or Hypersonic Missiles, as well as space capabilities and other emerging technologies. We will invest in areas that deliver advantage on the modern battlefield and better exploit low-cost solutions, like the inexpensive Unmanned Surface Vehicles seen in Ukraine.
Selaine Saxby, MP for North Devon said:
“I wholeheartedly welcome this news and I am delighted that some of the expanding budget is already being spent here in North Devon where Systems Engineering & Assessment Ltd (SEA) in Barnstaple have recently been awarded a £135 million contract to provide a Trainable Decoy Launcher to improve Royal Navy surface Ship defensive capabilities.
The fully UK design and build solution delivers advantages to the UK’s prosperity and levelling up agenda, as alongside systems and software integration work, SEA will manufacture and export Ancilia from their facility in Barnstaple, North Devon, safeguarding over 150 highly skilled jobs, and recruiting for many more.”
Richard Flitton, Managing Director of SEA on the awarding of the contract last month said:
“Being awarded a contract of this nature demonstrates the Royal Navy’s trust in SEA which is based on our proven track record of delivering, upgrading, and sustaining high-end maritime capabilities over many years. The knowledge and maritime domain expertise within our UK-based team has enabled our long-standing partnership with the Royal Navy, and we’re delighted that this will allow us to support the UK’s defensive capabilities against modern and complex naval threats.”
