More submarines, soldiers and drones, along with an airborne nuclear strike capability and the exploration of technologies such as lasers, AI and robotics, are among the proposals in the Strategic Defence Review.
These are the key ambitions outlined in the SDR:
Army to be ‘ten times more lethal’
This ambition relies on the harnessing of new technologies and weapon systems, particularly drones. Lethality is difficult to measure and the claim is strong on political rhetoric.
Only a couple of months ago, the Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, said the ambition was to double lethality by 2027 and triple it by 2030.
The new Archer artillery system, the belated introduction of the Ajax vehicle and Challenger 3 tanks will increase lethality… but to what extent?
British soldiers walk back to their vehicles at the end of an exercise on February 17, 2025 in Smardan, Romania
Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin attending a Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey in London on the 80th anniversary of VE Day on May 8, 2025
Three forces to be integrated into one
The Integrated Force, unveiled as part of the SDR, is not a merger of the Armed Forces, but they will lose much of the traditional
independence as they are moulded into a centralised Integrated Force. The SDR suggested the services were ‘siloed’. The need for them to train together and prepare for war shoulder to shoulder was essential in the months and years ahead.
£15billion boost for nuclear warheads
Britain’s nuclear deterrent has long been in need of recapitalisation. The £15billion will pay for these weapons to be upgraded or replaced.
It will also see the significant modernisation of infrastructure at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston, supporting more than 9,000 jobs at the Berkshire site.
Sir Keir Starmer delivering a speech at a facility in Glasgow as the government unveiled its defence spending on June 2
Up to 12 new nuclear attack submarines
The as yet uncosted pledge to develop ‘up to’ 12 new attack submarines has been welcomed by military observers but the first boat is not expected to enter service before the late 2030s.
The submarines will support the AUKUS security alliance between the UK, Australia and the United States and will be used to protect the Pacific from Chinese aggression.
Over the decades ahead, the boats will replace the Royal Navy’s current fleet of seven Astute-class submarines. They will be built at key sites such as BAE in Barrow-in-Furness.
Six new factories to make munitions
The SDR proposes at least six factories making munitions and energetics such as explosives and propellants for weapons.
The SDR recommends creating an ‘always on’ munitions production capacity in the UK, allowing production to be scaled up at speed if needed.
Britain’s military warehouses are bare after £5billion in weaponry and munitions was provided for Ukraine since the start of the conflict in 2022. The programme will create more than 1,000 skilled jobs, according to the SDR.
Defence Secretary John Healy visits the production line for long-range cruise missile, Storm Shadow, on May 31
Robotics, cyber warfare and AI
The review says AI will improve the quality and speed of decision-making and operational effectiveness for Britain’s military, its allies… and its enemies.
It should be an immediate priority to ‘shift towards greater use of autonomy and AI within the UK’s conventional forces’. This has shown to be transformational in Ukraine. Chiefs will launch a Defence AI Investment Fund by February 2026.
The report warns cyber threats will become harder to mitigate as technology evolves, with government departments, military hardware, communications, increasingly vulnerable.
Hardening critical defence functions to cyber-attack is crucial. Directed Energy Weapon systems, such as the UK’s DragonFire, a world-leading laser ground to air system being developed at Porton Down, Wiltshire, can save millions of pounds in expenditure on ordnance systems.
The review also calls for the MoD to seize the opportunities presented by technologies such as robots and lasers.
£4billion expansion of the drone force
The Government unveiled a £4billion investment package for drones and autonomous systems. Drones are dominating the conflict in Ukraine and in Russia, following the audacious Ukrainian attack on Russian airfields in Siberia just days ago.
They provide proved lethality at minimal financial cost and would spare the lives of British troops because they are not required to engage with the enemy at close proximity.
Cheap to produce drones can be effective against ‘legacy’ military systems worth billions of pounds and are necessary to protect and augment the UK’s manned military systems, such as aircraft, helicopters and armoured vehicles.
A F-35A Lighting II fighter jet (pictured in the Netherlands being used by the Finnish Air Force)
Fighter jets to carry nuclear bombs
Britain is exploring the potential return of air-delivered nuclear weapons in collaboration with the United States. America’s F-35A Lightning II aircraft is capable of carrying tactical gravity nuclear bombs.
The proposal marks the most significant shift in UK nuclear posture since the Cold War. Currently, this country’s nuclear deterrent is carried by the Royal Navy’s ‘bomber’ submarines.
The air-launched nuclear weapons would carry a much smaller payload. The lower yield B61 munitions are already integrated into US aircraft stationed on continental Europe and could be brought to Britain.
Thousands of new long-range weapons
At least 7,000 long-range weapons will be made to restock UK military warehouses and to prepare for an extended conflict against an adversary such as Russia.
Children taught value of the military
Defence chiefs will work with the Department for Education to develop understanding of the Armed Forces among young people in schools, by means of a two-year series of public outreach events across the UK, explaining current threats and future trends.
Schools and community-based cadet forces will also be expanded, with an ambition of a 30 per cent rise by 2030 with a view to the UK having 250,000 cadets, many of whom will then go on to join the armed forces.
HMS Artful an Astute-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine is manoeuvred in Clyde in March 2025
More reservists and investment in them
To meet the challenge of engaging in a lengthy conflict, the report identified the need to boost the number of reservists.
These part-time personnel, many of whom are former regulars with operational experience, would join full-time troops on the frontline.
The report identified the need to increase the size of the UK’s Active Reserve forces by at least 20 per cent ‘when funding allows, most likely in the 2030s’.
The UK has around 25,000 Army reservists, 3,500 Royal Navy and Royal Marines reservists and 3,200 RAF reservists.
