The UK will build up to 12 new nuclear-powered attack submarines in response to rising global threats, the prime minister will announce on Monday as he unveils the government’s strategic defence review.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) will also invest £15 billion in its warhead programme, Sir Keir Starmer will say, to ensure Britain is “secure at home and strong abroad”.
Starmer has called the review a “radical blueprint” and pledged a “wave of investments” in shipbuilding, drone technology and cyber defences.
While Defence Secretary John Healey has called plans to boost the UK’s military might a “message to Moscow”, adding that the UK must “act decisively to face down Russian aggression”.
What is the strategic defence review?
The government is expected to accept 62 recommendations in full when it publishes the long-awaited review on Monday. The review, which was externally led, was commissioned when Labour took office in July last year.
The recommendations are expected to include significant investment in the UK nuclear warhead programme this parliament and maintaining the existing stockpile.
But questions have been raised about the government’s commitment to defence spending after the defence secretary could not confirm the Treasury had guaranteed funding to bring it up to 3% of GDP by 2034.
