The world has changed. The threat we now face is more serious and
less predictable than at any time since the Cold War. The UK
faces war in Europe, growing Russian aggression, new nuclear
risks, and daily cyber-attacks at home. Our adversaries are
working more in alliance with one another, while technology is
changing how war is fought. Drones now kill more people than
traditional artillery in the war in Ukraine, and whoever gets new
technology into the hands of their Armed Forces the quickest will
have the advantage.
We are in a new era of threat, which demands a new era for UK
Defence. The Strategic Defence Review will make Britain
safer—secure at home and strong abroad. It signifies a landmark
shift in our deterrence and defence: moving to warfighting
readiness to deter threats and strengthen security in the
Euro-Atlantic. As the UK steps up to take on more responsibility
for European security, we must have a ‘NATO first' defence policy
and lead within the Alliance. The UK will become the leading edge
of innovation in NATO.
The SDR sets a path for the next decade and beyond to transform
Defence. It will end the hollowing out of the UK's Armed Forces
and lead in a stronger, more lethal NATO. As we reform Defence
and increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and 3% in
the next Parliament when fiscal and economic conditions allow,
the SDR will help make defence an engine for growth—boosting
prosperity, jobs and security for working people across the UK.
The SDR's vision for UK Defence:
-
Move to warfighting readiness—establishing a
more lethal ‘integrated force' equipped for the future, and
strengthened homeland defence.
-
Engine for growth—driving jobs and prosperity
through a new partnership with industry, radical procurement
reforms and backing UK businesses.
-
‘NATO first'—stepping up on European security
by leading in NATO, with strengthened nuclear, new tech and
updated conventional capabilities.
-
UK innovation driven by lessons from
Ukraine—harnessing drones, data and digital warfare to
make our Armed Forces stronger and safer.
-
Whole-of-society approach—widening
participation in national resilience, and renewing the Nation's
contract with those who serve.
This is a new vision for how the UK's Armed Forces should be
conceived: a combination of conventional and digital warfighters;
the power of drones, AI and autonomy complementing the ‘heavy
metal' of tanks and artillery; innovation and procurement
measured in months, not years; and the breaking down of barriers
between individual Services, between the military and the private
sector, and between the Armed Forces and wider society.
Documents
The Strategic Defence Review
2025 - Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong
abroad
PDF, 5.44
MB, 144 pages
The Strategic Defence Review
2025 - two-pager
PDF, 627
KB, 2 pages
Adolygiad Amddiffyn Strategol
2025: Gwneud Prydain yn Fwy Diogel: yn gadarn gartref, yn
gydnerth dramor
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