Britain will build new attack submarines, invest billions on nuclear warheads and move towards \u201cwar-fighting readiness,\u201d Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday, as he braces for a landmark report into the state of the country\u2019s military. <\/p>\n
Starmer\u2019s government said it would build \u201cup to\u201d 12 new attack submarines as part of its AUKUS partnership with the United States and Australia, replacing the country\u2019s current class of seven subs from the late 2030s. <\/p>\n
And he will launch a \u201chistoric renewal\u201d of the UK\u2019s nuclear deterrent backed by a \u00a315 billion ($20.3 bn) investment, Starmer said in a speech in Scotland on Monday. <\/p>\n
The announcements come as a long-awaited review into Britain\u2019s armed services is published Monday. Experts have been calling for a modernization of Britain\u2019s armed services for decades, cries that have grown in volume since Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine three years ago. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we are being directly threatened by states with advanced military forces, the most effective way to deter them is to be ready, and frankly, to show them that we\u2019re ready to deliver peace through strength,\u201d Starmer said Monday. <\/p>\n
But Starmer refused to set out the timeline for his pledge that Britain\u2019s overall defense spending would hit 3% of the UK\u2019s gross domestic product (GDP). The uplift, announced earlier this year, is set to be reached by the end of the next parliament in 2034, but is dependent on economic conditions. <\/p>\n
And the prime minister did not set out where the money to pay for the new weaponry will come from; he previously announced cuts to the UK\u2019s aid budget to fund the uplift in defense spending, and he declined to rule out similar moves on Monday. <\/p>\n
The fiscal promise from the UK falls short of defense spending promises from some NATO countries, whose spending has been closely scrutinized by US President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n
NATO\u2019s Secretary General Mark Rutte said last month he \u201cassumed\u201d NATO members will agree on a defense spending target of 5% at June\u2019s NATO summit, a significant increase from the 2% benchmark, which was agreed to in 2014. <\/p>\n
Per 2024 NATO data, only Poland\u2019s defense expenditure was above 4% of GDP, although Latvia and Estonia had promised increases to 5%, with Italy promising a hike to between 3.5 and 5% of GDP. The US\u2019 defense expenditure sat at 3.38% of GDP in 2024, making up some 64% of total NATO expenditure. <\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine \u2013 and the subsequent pressure from Trump\u2019s administration on European nations to boost their own military capabilities \u2013 has sparked a race among Europe\u2019s key military powers to boost their readiness and counter the Russian threat should the White House pull its support for Kyiv. <\/p>\n
The UK \u201ccannot ignore the threat that Russia poses,\u201d Starmer told the BBC on Monday. \u201cRussia has shown in recent weeks that it\u2019s not serious about peace, and we have to be ready.\u201d <\/p>\n
Starmer said Monday he intended to turn the UK into a \u201cbattle-ready, armour-clad nation with the strongest alliances, and the most advanced capabilities, equipped for the decades to come.\u201d <\/p>\n
Alongside the promised submarines, Starmer said that a \u201chybrid Royal Navy\u201d will patrol the North Atlantic \u2014 a key transit route for Russian submarines to reach the eastern US seaboard \u2014 signalling a move to more drone-based naval capabilities. <\/p>\n
The review, commissioned by his government and led by former NATO chief George Robertson, is expected to highlight a number of emerging threats, such as drone warfare, in which Britain is falling behind. <\/p>\n
Given decades of shrinking investment in the British military, questions have been raised over the deterrence that Britain\u2019s conventional and nuclear weapons offer, particularly given its reliance on a US supply chain.In the last eight years, the UK has publicly acknowledged two failed nuclear missile tests, one of them in the waters off Florida, when dummy missiles didn\u2019t fire as intended. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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