"National security is the foundation for growth" - Defence Secretary launches new strategy to boost UK jobs and growth

UK based defence firms will be prioritised for government investment under a new defence industrial strategy that will drive economic growth, boost British jobs and strengthen national security.

Defence Secretary, John Healey will today [Monday 2 December] launch the Government's Defence Industrial Strategy – by inviting investors, innovators, industry and trade unions to give their views on how to grow a better, more integrated, more innovative and more resilient defence sector. 

Speaking at a London Defence Conference event with investors in London, Healey will set an ambition to increase defence sector jobs in “every nation and region of the UK”. He will say that a strong defence sector can help provide “the foundation for a decade of national renewal.” He will publish a new Statement of Intent for the Defence Industrial Strategy this morning.

With global threats increasing, the Government's Defence Industrial Strategy will place deterrence at the heart of a new approach, to ensure adversaries know the UK has an industrial base that can innovate at a wartime pace.

In a sign of the Government's commitment to develop a faster, more resilient supply chain, a first-of-its-kind wargame will begin today with the UK defence industry. The wargame will explore how industry and the MOD could sustain personnel on the frontline when faced with constant supply chain disruption and intense fighting.

The strategy will help make the defence sector an engine for UK growth and will strengthen domestic supply chains in critical areas, such as semi-conductors and steel. The new government has already invested in the acquisition of a defence semiconductor factory in County Durham. The new strategy will show how public investment and long-term certainty can help crowd-in billions in private investment into UK Defence and will “mobilise the private sector to help face down global threats.”

In a show of support for this approach, today's announcement comes as defence companies announce major new investments and facilities, helping boost jobs and growth across Britain.

• Helsing – Europe's largest defence AI company will announce plans to mass-produce thousands of  a new AI-enabled drone, as part of its £350 million investment into the UK over the next five years.

• BAE Systems – is set to announce thousands more recruits next year alongside a major new investment in skills.

• Babcock – is set to announce almost 1500 new early career roles with graduate and apprenticeship opportunities to support UK defence over the coming year. 

• Rolls-Royce – have opened a new office in Glasgow which will play a crucial role in attracting skilled employees and supporting regional growth. The 120 new jobs it creates will support the delivery of major UK submarine programmes.

Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry Maria Eagle will also visit Barrow-in-Furness today where BAE Systems' skilled workers are building the UK's new nuclear submarines and will benefit from the further investment.

The new Government is seeking to address some of the problems of the past which have held back growth in the defence sector, including inefficient spending, skills shortages, a lack of focus on exports and long-term partnerships. The Government will deliver for British businesses and the public through this step-change in approach.

At the centre of the strategy is the Government's growth mission – bringing benefits to every region and nation in the UK. The defence sector already supports 1 in 60 jobs in the UK – 434,000 good, well-paid jobs, with the majority (67%) outside London and the Southeast.

Defence Secretary, John Healey MP said:

Our defence sector should be an engine for jobs and growth, strengthening our security and economy. That requires a defence industry that is better and more integrated - one that can keep our Armed Forces equipped, innovating at a wartime pace, and ahead of our adversaries.

We will develop this new Defence Industrial Strategy with industry, with innovators and with workers. We will mobilise the private sector to help face down global threats, direct more public investment to British businesses and create jobs and growth in every nation and region of the UK.

National security is the foundation for national stability and growth. We are sending a signal to the market and to our adversaries: with a strong UK defence sector we will make Britain secure at home and strong abroad.

The new strategy will be shaped with the defence industry, identifying opportunities to innovate at speed, with the resilience to deter aggression by adversaries, able to seize the opportunity presented by the technologies of the future, while growing the UK's share of the exports market.

Kevin Craven, CEO of ADS Group said:

The Government underlining the importance of the defence sector to the UK economy is hugely welcomed, particularly the sector's inclusion as a high priority area for growth. ADS has consistently convened meaningful engagement between our members, MOD and wider stakeholders, and we look forward to continuing this in the latest phase.

Industry greatly appreciates the opportunity for deep involvement with these processes. To deliver the right capability to support the UK's ability to deter, it is pivotal that we continue to contribute to military planning activities.

The Government is also appointing a fully-fledged National Armaments Director. Its aim is to ensure the armed forces are properly equipped to defend Britain, to build up the British defence industry and to crack down on waste.

The government's primary mission is to secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 – with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country – and with more than 200,000 UK jobs supported through spend with the defence industry, the new strategy will have a key role to play in this.

The strategy was a manifesto pledge and is expected to be published in the first half of 2025. The government has committed to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence and will set a clear path in the Spring.

Under this government, there has been renewed confidence in the UK defence industry, including Rheinmetall committing a new factory which will see the UK manufacture artillery gun barrels for the first time in 10 years, using British steel produced by Sheffield Forgemasters.

The last Defence Industrial Strategy was published in 2021, before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The new Defence Industrial Strategy will align with the Strategic Defence Review.

The Defence Industrial Strategy is commissioned by the Defence Secretary and will be the sector plan for defence in Government's wider industrial strategy. The Ministry of Defence and The Department for Business and Trade will work to ensure the Defence Industrial Strategy and upcoming Trade Strategy is complimentary.