The Ministry of Defence has reiterated its commitment to expanding domestic weapons manufacturing as part of its wider Defence Industrial Strategy, while stopping short of identifying new specific locations for future production facilities, according to a written response published on 30 April 2025.
Responding to a question from Edward Morello MP (Liberal Democrat – West Dorset) on whether the Government had assessed potential locations for new domestic weapons plants, Defence Minister Maria Eagle outlined the broader strategy rather than site-specific planning.
“The strategic aim of this Government’s Defence Industrial Strategy is to make sure the imperatives of national security and a high-growth economy are aligned,” Eagle stated.
She added that the strategy is designed to “signal to industry the areas we want to grow our onshore production capability, and where we will work with allies,” with the goal of ensuring the UK “has the industrial base needed to meet the potential threats of the future, as well as maximise economic benefits to the UK, ensuring UK suppliers get more value out of our procurement spend.”
While the Minister did not confirm any new planned sites, she cited recent industrial investment as evidence of delivery. “In March this Government agreed a £1.6 billion deal [that] provides thousands of air defence missiles for Ukraine, boosting UK jobs and growth through a trebling of Thales’s Belfast-based production of lightweight multirole missiles,” Eagle said.
She also pointed to increased artillery production capacity from BAE Systems: “BAE Systems has announced that it will deliver a sixteen-fold increase in production capacity of 155mm artillery shells when its new explosive filling facility at Glascoed, South Wales, becomes operational this summer.”
Talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.
Why don’t we buy say 1000 bradley fighting vehicles,
Build a shed load of Challenger 3 tanks
Reinvigorate the typhoon programme and upgrade it to a 5th gen stealth aircraft
Build more of everything and buy more.of what we know works on the battlefield.
Lads, we’re going to war.
How do you upgrade Typhoon to a 5th gen? What would be the point when a prototype of Tempest will be flying in a few years?
Very simple answer since Feb 2022 we have had 2 different Governments, both talked big and lyrically about leadership and the importance of increased defence.
The reality is reviews and projects with fancy names and no actual output, fact since the invasion of Ukraine we have with the exception of 18 2nd hand Archer SPG ordered no extra large kit.
No extra Tanks, IFV, SHORAD, Aircraft, ships or Submarines, nothing, zilch, etc etc. By my reckoning ourselves and Eire are unique in Europe by doing absolutely nothing, in fact we-have very quietly carried out cuts.
Time to sing the MoD procurement song …
Busy doing nothing, working the whole day through. Trying to find lots of things not to do.
Russia can’t defeat Ukraine, so they’ll turn their attention to taking on NATO. I want some of what you’ve been smoking dude 😎
Seeing is believing 👀
Blether blether blether. Reruns of Yes Minister are all you need to watch to see why absolutely nothing is actually happening.