LONDON, 3rd June, 2025 (WAM) -- The United Kingdom will build “up to 12” nuclear-powered, conventionally armed submarines under the AUKUS partnership with Australia and the United States, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, as the government unveiled its major defence review on Monday.
Starmer pledged to undertake the most sweeping changes to British defences.
He noted that his government would make “Britain’s biggest contribution to NATO since its creation.” He added, “We will never fight alone. Our defence policy will always be NATO-first.”
The government announced military plans in response to a strategic defence review commissioned by Starmer and led by George Robertson, a former UK Defence Secretary and NATO Secretary-General.
The measures include increasing production of submarines and weapons, and investing in innovation and establish a cyber command to counter attacks on Britain’s defences.
Other measures include: Investing 15 billion pounds ($20.3 billion) in Britain’s nuclear arsenal, which consists of missiles carried on a handful of submarines, increasing Britain’s conventional weapons stockpiles with six new munitions factories and up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons, developing new airborne and land drones as well as a “hybrid Navy” of autonomous vessels and crewed ships, committing 1 billion pounds for UK air defences, and a home guard to protect critical national infrastructure as part of a “whole-of-society approach” to defence.
Defence Secretary John Healey said plans for defence spending to hit 2.5 percent of national income by 2027 a year are “on track” and that there’s “no doubt” it will hit 3 percent before 2034.