Defence Secretary John Healey used the Lord Mayor’s Annual Defence and Security Lecture in London to announce that the government is preparing new legal powers to allow the military to bring down unidentified drones threatening UK bases.
Framing his remarks within what he described as “a new era of threat,” Healey said the security environment is “more unstable, more uncertain, more dangerous,” and warned that “not since the end of the Second World War has Europe’s security been at such risk of state-on-state conflict.”
He added: “We will always do what’s needed to keep the British people safe… and as we speak, we are developing new legal powers to bring down unidentified drones over UK military sites.” He also noted that “each month, more attack drones are being launched into Ukraine,” while “last month, we saw 19 cross the Polish border… days later, Russian jets violated Estonia’s airspace… while at the same time, Russia mounted a concerted campaign to subvert Moldova’s election.”
At home, he said, “we continue to defend ourselves daily against threats ranging from the seabed to cyberspace.”
Setting out the government’s broader posture, Healey described “a new era for defence” built on “hard power, strong alliances and sure diplomacy.” He highlighted the Strategic Defence Review as “a landmark shift in our deterrence and defence… moving to warfighting readiness to deter threats and strengthen security in the Euro-Atlantic… and drawing lessons from Ukraine to put the UK at the leading edge of defence innovation and to build Britain’s industrial base.” He cast the effort as “a New Deal for European security” focused on how Allies “truly fight together,” “advance our advantage through innovation,” and “invest for the future.”
On Ukraine, Healey reiterated that “the UK is united for Ukraine,” stating, “this year, we will provide the highest ever level of military support to Ukraine: £4.5 billion.” He said the UK has “taken over the leadership of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, alongside Germany,” raising “pledges of over £50 billion for military aid.” He also outlined contingency planning for a possible ceasefire scenario, describing work with more than 30 nations on “detailed plans… for a ‘Multinational Force Ukraine’… to secure the skies and seas, and to train Ukrainian forces to defend their nation.”
Healey stressed alliance-building and interoperability, pointing to recent agreements with European partners: “There was no UK leadership of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group… no landmark Trinity House Defence Agreement with Germany… no reboot of the Lancaster House Treaty with France… there is now.” He said the UK’s Norway deal “marks the birth of a joint fleet of submarine hunters to protect NATO’s northern flank,” adding, “over the next 5 years, we will make this a hallmark of our New Deal for European security… deploying combined forces together, to deter together.”
Healey also argued that “plans simply to ‘modernise’ our Armed Forces will fall short,” underscoring the need to transform with drones, AI, autonomy and novel capabilities. “We launched UK Defence Innovation, backed by a ringfenced annual budget of at least £400 million… and we committed to spending 10 per cent of our equipment budget on novel technologies, starting this year,” he said.
“I want to put the UK at the leading edge of defence innovation, making defence an engine for growth, making Britain safer and making Britain’s Armed Forces the most innovating military in NATO.”
He closed with a call for sustained resolve: “Business as before will not cut it… our duty in government can be simply put: … to meet the challenges in this new era of threat to forge a new era for European security.”
The power to shoot down drones should’ve been there already, its ridiculous its taken this long.
Every government: “We care about national security.”
Ye my hairy backside.
Surely the legal powers to shoot down drones are implicit in the ‘This it a Prohibited Place’ signage that surrounds our MOD sites? I can’t believe we have to spell it out like this.
About time. No doubt courts will allow people to sue the military for this, as our justice system seems to be as anti-British as our police, media and government.
“We will always do what’s needed to keep the British people safe”
But you’re not, are you?
Where in those paragraphs of waffle and repeating the obvious is ANY commitment to expand, even only in certain areas, any part of HMG forces size, mass, and capabilities?
None.
Drones, resilience, industry, Ukraine. All the key phrases in there, but you forgot “agile” and “at pace” which is unusual.
So let me pick apart some of your spin for you.
warned that “not since the end of the Second World War has Europe’s security been at such risk of state-on-state conflict.”
Agreed. So why are you still cutting the military, Mr Healey? After endless warnings for the best part of two years.
Healey described “a new era for defence” built on “hard power, strong alliances and sure diplomacy.”
The strong alliances and sure diplomacy have existed for decades, nothing new. We have hard power, but far too small. Where are the extra assets for hard power Mr Healey?
“we continue to defend ourselves daily against threats ranging from the seabed to cyberspace.”
Easy comment to make, as neither are measurable as both will be classified. I believe RFA Proteus was barely crewed and laid up for some time.
What will she actually do beyond surveying the damage? Cyber is highly classified and easy to say.
“and as we speak, we are developing new legal powers to bring down unidentified drones over UK military sites.”
Good. Needed. With WHAT? There is Zero AA kinetic capability at ANY MoD establishment beyond the guns of RN vessels. Number 2 CUAS Wing at RAF Leeming has a handful of anti Drone assets, from Rapid Sentry LMM to jammers like Orcus.
How do you deploy it effectively over multiple defence sites, Mr Healey?
“moving to warfighting readiness to deter threats and strengthen security in the Euro-Atlantic…”
There are various niche areas of HM forces that are always at war fighting readiness, nothing new. So what else are you doing?
The Army is having its deck chairs reshuffled yet again, for about the 4th time since the 2010 SDSR, with no actual extra people, vehicles, artillery, or helicopters as part of this ORBAT reshuffle, which I study at length well enough.
The RAF, same again, no new assets beyond what was already ordered by the previous government, same with the RN. Those two services at least have had their houses in order for some time without the need for another pointless reshuffle of their ORBAT.
Strategic Command, you renamed “Specialist Operations and Cyber Command” Same Command, same assets.
New name.
Wonderful stuff!
“put the UK at the leading edge of defence innovation and to build Britain’s industrial base.”
Agreed again. For all the innovation and industrial enhancements, which I know are HMGs actual priority, not the military, what are you actually ordering?
Industry needs to produce and sell stuff, and MoD needs to buy, not just set up programs with no actual orders at the end of it.
What are you buying Mr Healey, beyond what was already in the pipeline?
““a New Deal for European security” focused on how Allies “truly fight together,” “advance our advantage through innovation,” and “invest for the future.”
Same flowery talk at every SDSR since 2004, while the forces waste away. What new deal? Trump got nations to spend extra, but where is your extra spend? So far, you’ve placed the SIA, Chagos payments, Ukraine money, Afghan rehoming into the 2.5% and other stuff besides, exactly the same slight of hand that the Tories did in 2010. Many billions of pounds.
Not a penny extra for conventional forces, Mr Healey.
On Ukraine, yes, all good stuff. But I suspect an awful lot of the need to Grandstand in there too.
“Healey stressed alliance-building and interoperability, pointing to recent agreements with European partners:”
Many or most of which existed BEFORE this government came into power, but you’ll highlight them anyway for effect. Triton, Boxer, RCH155 amongst others with Germany alone.
“Healey also argued that “plans simply to ‘modernise’ our Armed Forces will fall short,” underscoring the need to transform with drones, AI, autonomy and novel capabilities. “We launched UK Defence Innovation, backed by a ringfenced annual budget of at least £400 million… and we committed to spending 10 per cent of our equipment budget on novel technologies, starting this year,” he said.
The Armed Forces are being modernised since time began. Every SDSR since 95 has had the same theme. Modernising should not be a euphemism for cuts, which is what it has become.
Long on words, short on any expansion of the forces.
For balance, improvements evident the long overdue vast sums being poured into the DNE and infrastructure at Aldermaston, Burghfield, Faslane, Devonport, Raynesway, and Barrow. Also, some vague announcements on 6 “new” factories, bringing Sheffield Forgemasters and the Semiconductor Fabrication Plant at Aycliffe Business Park under MoD ownership, and on expanding ammunition stocks which is again unquantifiable and they may have been so low to start with any expansion grandstanded is meaningless. Example, if the GBAD Sky Sabre force really was a low as some say, ordering another 12 launchers still leaves Army GBAD hanging by a string, no matter how many times you headline the purchase.
I see little new here, sorry.
Well said, D. Spot on as usual.
Essentially all true.. I’m just holding onto the hope it changes.
Why should it. This government are all yalk, they’ve no interest in defence and I think many of their MPs are more interested in Palestine and ousting their leader to put a more left wing figurehead in.
Starmer is interested in his popularity, and Labour prioritise the welfare state and the NHS.
Where is the extra money coming from? Their MPs hit the roof at the small welfare reforms they attempted.
Spot on, its all smoke and mirrors and empty words.
Because hope is all we can have 😂😂 hope in the face of pile after pile of 💩💩💩, based on the premise each day is new and you just never know👍
Given what you’ve said before about risk management, and some of the crazy situations you have faced, that makes sense to me.
You indeed never know.
To be honest Daniele a few years ago I was profoundly negative..the fact was I was a professional negative thinker.. my job was to constantly consider what realistic catastrophic events could occur and how you would mitigate against them.. when not doing that I would be investigating catastrophic events and deaths and the failures that caused them and writing root cause analysis reports, I was the guy who would be the in the meeting who’s job it was to say, if we do that and that and if that happens are we willing to accept that we may kill a few children. It’s only since I retired ( well quit really in protest over my board downgrading a risk assessment I did) and retrained as a solution focused brief intervention therapist that I see the value of positive thoughts and painting optimistic picture’s and I try hard ( but in my head I still hold all the risk assessments for future pandemics, war and catastrophic climate change and I sort of know in my heart of hearts we will be lucky not to see catastrophic events that kill billions over the next fifty years, I just try to paint a picture of something else ).
Daniele, I read somewhere that Rachel from Accounts may not be able to deliver 2.5% or 2.6% (figures vary) of GDP monies for Defence in the timescale promised, due to the ailing economy.
What a surprise. Not. They’ll find plenty of money for what matters to them though and what buys them votes.
Nauseating.
I read an interesting article as well, it considered whys of why we are were we are, the premise was it’s all based around our electoral system.. basically to get voted in you have to make a ludicrous set of promises that are actually impossible to hold to.. essentially both the conservatives and Labour ( and every other party really ) making promises around specific taxes and benefits means neither party could manage the economy as it needed to be managed.. the Ukraine war,security crisis, demographic timebomb and covid debt means tax’s always had to be raised as well as some killer benefits cuts like removing the triple lock on pensions and means testing child benefits to only actually poor households.. these benefits cuts could have raised 15billion a year and the tax rises could have been spread across the economy ( .5% here and there).. but because of the promises the two key benefits cannot be managed and the tax raised ended up being lumped into something stupid that hurt the economy… basically the premise was until people stop being unwilling to hear bad news and politicians stop only telling people what they want to hear the nation is essential a bit buggered..
Hear, Hear💯😒
Same old soundbites
We need real change
Always cuts to be filled by a very large can of jam.
Billy Bunter always seems to intercept the jam consignment…
Really excellent Daniele. I’m not even going to try to follow this. You’ve summed up how all of us are thinking.
And to top it all off we’re blustering about deploying to Ukraine again *if* there is a ceasefire. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for standing up for our allies and Ukraine certainly needs it, but what will we actually be able to scrape together, how effective will it be and how thin will it leave us elsewhere?
Oh they’ll scrape something together, our P5 status and HMG need to act the major power demands it. ( Grandstanding )
Whatever they use, it will already be committed elsewhere and already meant to be double hatted in at least two places at once.
Ukraine needs our full throated support to fight a war, not to monitor an American-enforced capitulation.
Steve, I seem to recall that Starmer was minded to offer army logisticians and trainers post-ceasefire, plus hopefully some Force Protection for them.
Not a brigade group of Infantry or Armour ‘on the streets’, as Joe Public seems to think.
Nail on the head matey.
To use a technical term…Bullshit.
Still waiting for the promised goodies in “The Defence Investment Plan” to be published in “autumn 2025”…
Meanwhile the MoD Annual Report & Accounts for 2024 to 2025 appears to have uncharacteristically failed to materialise…
Technically they have until 21st December (start of Winter). I am not holding my breath.
Well technically it depends on how you define the start of winter. Astronomically it begins on the winter solstice, meteorologists use start of December, and of course the old name for the solstice was “midwinter”.
That they used something imprecise instead of Q3 or Q4 doesn’t inspire confidence…
Spock, Still also waiting for the MoD Defence Command Paper or White Paper with details about implementing SDR…and we are now 16 months into this ‘Government.’
Hard power requires a lot more troops, systems, kit & ammo stocks that the virtually token army we have dwindled to. Russia, China, Iran & N Korea are never impressed by our disarmament fetish. Doing defence on the cheap eventually makes you extinct. We’ve been cutting way too far for way too long.
Hard power requires a lot more troops, systems, kit & ammo stocks that the virtually token army we have dwindled to. Russia, China, Iran & N Korea are never impressed by our disarmament fetish. Doing defence on the cheap eventually makes you extinct. We’ve been cutting way too far for way too long.
Why is new legislation required? Just notify the squaddies of the rules of engagement for drones.