The UK will provide a further GBP 100 million in air defence support to Ukraine, aimed at protecting cities and critical infrastructure from ongoing Russian attacks, according to the government.
The funding, announced by the Prime Minister at a Joint Expeditionary Force leaders’ meeting in Helsinki, brings total UK air defence commitments over the past two months to £600 million. The additional support is intended to be deployed rapidly to reinforce Ukraine’s ability to counter aerial threats.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “As Putin continues his abhorrent attacks across Ukraine, my message is simple – there will be no let up in the UK’s support.” He added that the package would help “protect millions of people in Ukraine from Russia’s barbaric strikes on cities and homes.”
Defence Secretary John Healey said the support would deliver “vital air defence to protect civilians, cities and critical infrastructure from Russia’s relentless attacks,” and linked the effort to wider cooperation between UK and Ukrainian industry. He also highlighted what he described as an “axis of aggression between Russia and Iran” as a factor shaping the security environment.
The new funding builds on a £500 million package announced in February, which included contributions to NATO’s Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List, more than 1,000 Lightweight Multirole Missiles, and support for industrial collaboration between the UK and Ukraine. Additional deliveries include 1,200 air defence missiles and 200,000 rounds of artillery ammunition through multinational initiatives.
Good news. But what about some sort of commitment to our own vulnerabilities? Sure the whole country can’t be covered but we can’t even defend a handful of critical sites!
With a little focus and determination we should be able to mass produce these air defences in such a way as to resolve our own air defences in addition to the Ukrainian defences. There isnot future in building these things by hand. We need a production line – probably several production lines. This is not rocket science (or maybe it is).
And what we spending on our GBAD? we give, gift but never replace. Ukraine rightly needs the help but on the whole they have more and better GBAD than we do. Time to think about protecting the UK as well. Rather than just talking about ir and having a few projects.
UKR is the ultimate test environment so I understand trying new kit there for our benefit.
As you say, we could do with buying some kit for UKPLC protection as we have been a bit exposed by the latest shenanigans.
Up to that point it was just about credible to suspect that there might have been some undeclared GBAD facility and now everyone knows that there isn’t….
I totally support helping Ukraine, but not at our own loss. It is the best place to test new kit etc and again I agree on that. My biggest thing is we have been publicly embarassed around the world for our lack of long/med range GBAD, And its just a case of carry on scrap what we can togeather and wait and see if any time in the future we fix the problem.
That is the whole problem its wait and see, while the clock is indeed ticking and we look weak around the world. Any kit ordered this year will not be in service for a few years so its a gap that is not filled and the problem will not go away.
On the out side it seems like nothing is being done, no one is pushing for any thing to be done and its ok we will get to when we get to.
I don’t really agree that everything that is ordered is not in service for years.
Some things that we have we can order more.
Other things that we don’t have we can be politely insistent on.
One of the reasons why a lot of UK materiel supply is so slow is that is
what is contracted.
true, Boxers slow dragged out delivery time is on of those contrats, Any thing new we buy will not be in full service for over a year, Archer was about a year from order to full service,
Questions for the MOD and HMG
1) when will the defence investment plan be published
2) what urgent action is being taken to rearm and prepare the UK for war considering the international security situation is deteriorating significantly
3) when will the conclusions and outcomes of the SDSR 2025 be delivered into service
Agree with other posts on here, we need much improved GBAD for the UK’s main critical infrastructure and defence industrial/ military sites. relying on a few typhoon interceptors flying on QRA will not deliver the interceptors readily available and urgently needed to ensure the UK is not taken out of any conflict on day one by 50-100 cruise missile or drone strikes hitting sensitive locations.
“when will the defence investment plan be published”
When enough sand is through the hour glass that funding it is the next parliament’s problem – that is the real answer.
Apparently may is the timeframe now.
Is that may or may not be released or the month of May?
The article read suggested May, it may be right or may be wrong.. I may make a guess that may be wrong… we may wish for more clarity than May..
I consulted Bernard Wolley to clarify matters – he was most pleased to be of Assitance.
“Minister, the article rather tentatively implies that the Defence Investment Plan is due in May. It may, of course, be accurate… or it may be wholly speculative. The difficulty, you see, is that May is a month, but it is also, in the present context, a state of mind — a sort of administrative limbo in which commitments are simultaneously suggested and denied.
I might venture a conjecture — purely for the sake of discussion — that the author has been given a vague indication which has then been translated into something resembling a date. Which may be correct. Or may not. Indeed, it is entirely possible that the Plan is due in May in the sense that it is due in some May… at some point… in some year… possibly not this one.
And while it is perfectly true that we cannot accuse the Ministry of missing a deadline which has never been formally acknowledged, we may nevertheless find ourselves in the somewhat awkward position of being held responsible for not having prepared for an event which may or may not occur, at a time which may or may not arrive.
So, Minister, I merely suggest that we might prefer a degree of clarity somewhat greater than that which May — or, indeed, the Ministry — is presently providing.”
GBAD could never provide defence against a surprise cruise missile defence. The best defence against Russian cruise missiles is towed array frigates operating in the Bear Gap and typhoons operating as far from the UK mainland as possible to intercept any Russian bombers. All of that is in place already today.
Ukraine has been attacked by hundreds of Russian cruise missiles in a single day before and at no point has it ever been close to being knocked out.
So our total lack of Long range GBAD is not an issue then is all in hand job done? Well glad you cleared that up nothing to worry about from those ballistic misslies, drones etc, thank the lord for that.
I think it is called full spectrum defence to enable UK to maintain its offensive capabilities.
How about boosting homeland defence?
That is my point, we can not defend an airfield from a prop powered slow drone, let alone defend our home land, but its ok there are a few projects and industry days looking in to it, no rush.
I saw that Brazil recently bought 3x EMADS SAM batteries from Italy for $624m. That uses the CAMM-ER missile. The same deal for Britain would be good. One battery each for Lossiemouth, London & Akrotiri, would be better than what we haven’t got now.
London, not where the SSBNs are?
Pompey?
Aldermaston?
It would be great to have a full multi layer SAM system for the whole of the UK, but that is probably $25 Billion+. Start with what we can afford.
You missed the point, entirely.