UK Defence: Throughout the remainder of this decade, the UK government intends to increase military spending by an extra £75 billion, or $93.5 billion.
The move will see the UK “steadily increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by the end of the decade,” as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on April 23. By 2030, this is expected to amount to an investment of £87 billion.
According to the government, “ensure the UK remains by far the second largest defence spender in NATO after the US” will be achieved through an immediate £3 billion top-up for the upcoming fiscal year and enhanced investment for this decade.
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According to the latest figures from NATO, the UK allocated 2.28% of its GDP, or 2.28%, on defence last year. As a result, it was one of just 11 of the alliance’s thirty-one countries to meet or surpass its spending target of 2% of GDP.
The UK government said, “This [2.5% benchmark] sets a new standard for other major European NATO economies to follow.”
“The UK is leading by example,” says NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in response to the enhanced budget pledge.
“Additional funding will be used to put the UK’s defence industry on a war footing, deliver cutting-edge technology, and back Ukraine against Russia,” the UK said about the budget rise.
As per Flight Global, the news that Kyiv will receive an extra £500 million in equipment support this year has strengthened the last of these pledges. Ammunition, drones, air defence gear, and precise deep-strike weapons will all be part of this.
To ensure “we have rapid production capacity and stockpiles of next-generation munitions” as well as “high-quality jobs and investment across the UK,” London will invest an additional £10 billion or more in the production of munitions over the next ten years.
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The establishment of a Defence Innovation Agency to supervise the spending of at least 5% of the yearly defence budget on research and development, as well as the reform of the UK’s defence procurement system, are two more projects. Among the areas of interest are space technology, directed energy weapons, and hypersonic missiles.
“There can be no doubt that the era of the peace dividend is over,” argues UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, “between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Iran and its proxies seeking to escalate deadly conflict, and China flexing its muscles.”
“The mounting threats we face mean we must invest in defence if we are to continue to defend our values, freedoms and prosperity.”
