UK Publishes Drone Defence Plan With £5bn
The UK will publish a defence plan on Tuesday. Prime Minister Starmer will unveil the plan.
It focuses on drones and how billions will be spent on the armed forces. The plan includes £5bn for drones to deter Russia and Iran.
New Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis secured an extra £1.5bn for the plan. Most of that money will go toward drones.
The funding came after a large gap in defence spending. That gap led to the previous Defence Secretary John Healey resigning.
His resignation raised questions about the UK's duties to NATO. The total defence settlement reached about £14.5bn.
This is up from £13.5bn offered to Healey before he left. Starmer also scrapped plans to replace 13 Royal Navy warships.
Instead the UK will build at least six new vessels. These ships will act as command hubs for drone systems.
Key Terms 4
- Defence investment plan A government document showing how military spending will be used
- NATO A group of countries that agree to defend each other
- Uncrewed drone systems Unmanned flying machines controlled remotely used in warfare
- Type 83 destroyers and Type 32 frigates Planned Royal Navy warships that were cancelled