The UK should begin planning to reduce its reliance on the United States for key defence and security capabilities, a parliamentary committee has warned, arguing that long-standing assumptions about national security are starting to shift.
In its latest report on the National Security Strategy, the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy said the UK is now operating in an “era of radical uncertainty”, where great power competition, hybrid threats and changing alliances are steadily eroding the old rules. It broadly agrees with the Government’s assessment of the threat picture, but finds a clear gap between what is being promised and how it will actually be delivered.
The committee said it was “unclear on the adequacy of cross-Government accountability, and funding for commitments”, and pointed to the fact that “a detailed plan for the development of sovereign capabilities is also lacking”. It also highlighted what it described as “a distinct lack of clarity over which Government departments are responsible for which aspects of national security”, raising questions about whether the system as it stands can really deliver a coherent approach.
The UK, it says, still has “strategic dependencies on the United States for core capabilities in nuclear, intelligence and conventional defence”. While it accepts that the US relationship remains central, the committee is fairly blunt in saying more needs to be done to prepare for a scenario where that support is not guaranteed in the same way.
It recommends that the Government “must also develop a clear plan, along with other European allies, for a transition towards greater European leadership of NATO”, including preparing for a “worst-case scenario” where Europe has to act without US backing in a crisis. Alongside that, it says the UK should “plan to move away from a bilateral relationship with the United States that is so dependent” on Washington for major areas of defence capability, even if cooperation continues where it makes sense.
Beyond that, the report picks out a number of weaker areas, it suggests gaps in consultation may have meant too little attention was paid to the impact of cuts to soft power, and says plans to strengthen civil resilience are still fairly underdeveloped. There is, for example, limited detail on how critical national infrastructure will be better protected, what exactly the UK Resilience Academy will do, or how a “whole-of-society” approach to security is meant to work in practice.
China is also flagged more directly than before. The committee says the Government should recognise it as “a clear national security threat”, particularly given dependencies on supply chains and critical materials, and be more transparent about how security considerations are handled when doing business or signing agreements.
On industry, there is a fairly pointed criticism that no one seems to have properly defined what “sovereign capabilities” actually means. That lack of clarity, the report says, is already making it harder for companies to plan and invest. It calls for clearer direction, particularly on funding and support for smaller firms working in defence and security.
Among the recommendations are calls for more transparency, stronger accountability inside government, and greater clarity around plans to reach 1.5% of GDP spending on security and resilience by 2035.
We really need a big expansion of the ISTARI satellite constellation particularly for ELINT and SAR. We are already about to deploy satellite to do both we just need to add more to the fleet. Five of each would be sufficient. We also need to add an Infrared Tracking capability. This can be done with just two satellites in HEO orbit. Beyond that we need a space based SIGINT satellite. We should really consider a joint program with Canada and Australia for that. Two Geo stationary satellites would allow us to cover all of Russia and China and we can share the content as part of five eyes.
Fortunately the one thing the BoJo government did right was buy a share in one web so we have our own LEO mega constellation able to provide comms precision tracking.
It is also listed that Oberon our new SAR satellite has a radio frequency capture capability but it’s unclear if this for ELINT or SIGINT capability.
None of this is expensive, most of this is being put in place now we just need a bit more of it. We can sell the product it produces to allied governments as well.
Doris also ordered T31 and was about to announce T26B2 when he was deposed – he did also give the first big lump of cash to defence for a decade.
Other than that is was a continuum of disasters!
My but you Brits live in cloud cuckoo land. You can’t even field an armored fighting vehicle than doesn’t shake, rattle and roll but you are going to launch all kinds of intelligence and communication satellites (with the assistance of the Canadians and Aussie no less ) even though you don’t have the funds for them, can’t manufacture any of them and you don’t have a launch capability. But you had an empire that collapsed a century ago so no sweat.
As far as most of the US is concerned, outside of the current President and his morbid fascination with Charles the Weirdo, we say “don’t let the screen door hit you in the a*se on the way out.”
Ah the circus is in town 🤡
Well, the clown at least.
Says the guy too scared to say arse on the internet 😀 😀 😀
Russian bot
Coming from a United States that hasn’t been able to build succesful surface combatant since the 1980’s, hasn’t been able to replace it’s M109’s in decades and just had to cancel it’s own light armoured vehicle program? That’s rich.
Major difference though, the US don’t retire their equipment without replacing them
Tell that to the OHPs.
They’ve replaced those three times in the last ten years (or four if you distinguish the Independence and Freedom classes). Does the latest replacement have a name yet?
LCS isn’t an OHP replacement, it’s barely even a surface combatant.
Constellation is arriving in service 15 years after the last OHP was reitred and it’s been cancelled after the last two hulls.
FF(X) at present is also not an OHP replacement and is even less of a surface combatant than the LCS’s.
So no, they’ve not been “replaced three times”.
There’s a lot that could be said back here. However, look into who owns what that’s related to Ajax, then tell me who can’t manufacture an armoured fighting vehicle. One other thing I will add, perhaps you’d like to look at which british companies supply vital equipment to US defence…. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out porky.
Agree.
Exactly,these deluded tub thumpers ignore facts and fantasize about mythical “orders” and other bull that never happens.
Trying to pick a fight with the commies and can barely put 4 warships to sea.
Pathetic and hilarious in equal measures, no doubt I’ll be called a russian “bot” (whatever they think that actually means) for daring to mention anything factual.
I won’t call you a Russian bot.
I will call you a twat, however.
Whatever
I can think of at least a dozen key capabilities we are 100% dependent on the US for.
This report is fantasy planning at the highest level.
Stating reality is first step to adopt.
Indeed. If you do not see where you are you cannot reach destination .A problem magnified when it comes to economy which none of them seem to grasp and all act like little kids managing savings accounts as in how much can they detract from the economy in the name of saving 💰
I get paid more than $120 to $130 per hour for working online. I heard about this job 3 months ago and after joining this i have earned easily $15k from this without having online working skills.
Here is I begun— http://www.giftpay7.vip
Maybe you could buy a couple of frigates and donate them to the navy..
So they say the US relations remain central, but also recommend moving away…
We can’t have BOTH
Let’s move away from them and fill in the gaps required with our own stuff
This, in turn, creates investment in new defence jobs, infrastructure, and future technology
We just can’t trust the US anymore!
The stuff they are spewing out at the moment is shocking🤯
I agree, you either move away or you don’t. The US has signaled it is no longer willing to honor article 5, end of story. We don’t rely on Hungary for any military capabilities even though they are in NATO as well. The USA should be no different.
You can’t be a little bit pregnant, this is no different.
The moment there is uncertainty over whether the US would honour Article 5 the deterrent is gone and NATO just becomes an excuse for Europe’s underfunding of defence.
You literally couldn’t make it up.
The national security strategy, made by the joint committee for national security strategy is advising, on the point for strategy on national security, to move away from the United States of America!
Perhaps a more honest rebranding & change the name of the joint committee for national security strategy to joint committee of ensuring the continued destruction of the United Kingdom & all she stands for.
So. Ding totally reliant on the US cavalry is in your view the sensible strategy? It’s like planning for how you intend to spend married life with your finance when not only is she seeing others on the side but is just working out when best to let you know she has dumped you. Fact is relying on the US is no longer an option without becoming Puerto Rica, an expendable Costa Rica at that. Seems sensible to me to recognise that reality now while trying to delay the more extreme effects of a total divorce while we are urgently building up options for where we live and how we finance it.
My biggest issue is a report of this nature is rather vital to any over reaching Defence Review findings being set in stone, which is why the latter isn’t nimble and flexible enough to achieve what is needed now, rather than some proscribed future that is rapidly changing and becoming out of date before anything is acquired, let alone too late even for that proscribed future. Worst of both Worlds when risk is here now and growing rapidly.
We had the choice of becoming cannon fodder for the US in Iran and making us a bigger target, or losing even the myth of US Calvert automatically coming to help Europe defend itself. Indeed some might question that Trumps motivation in the former has at least something to do with manipulating US opinion for not even maintaining the myth of standing with us against Russia. The sanctioned Duma reps presence as honoured guests in the Capitol and reduced sanctions against Russia while US servicemen are dying and assets destroyed due to Russian intelligence does nothing to suggest European lives will be of any consequence to MAGA principles and profit taking.
No.
Rock solid. Shoulder to shoulder.
Never wavering nor questioning.
That is security to a magnitude of all other lessers.
“Never questioning” is brave given the United States of America is currently engaged in questionable decision after questionable decision. If we were shoulder to shoulder with Trump we would be looking the wrong way!
Good allies hold each other to account while making it clear that when it comes to the real stuff they will always be there.
That’s only ever true of a sane and trusted ally. Unfortunately the US, currently, cannot be said to be either.
How right you are. Far more likely Trump would help Putin over run the Britain France & Germany if by doing so he could acquire their military assets to further his aim of world domination by beating Ukraine, Finland, Sweden and Denmark who have every intention of fighting Putin to a standstill – unlike Trump.
They will all be a piece of 🍰 incapacitated by invasion of Islam which nice people like to think of as inclusion and Diversity. They knew they would! A simple playbook of invasion strategy played out all over the world.
Sudden divorce, though the senior partner has been publicly shaming the marriage for some time and flirting with despots. Our poor Britainia
We have arguably the most anglophile President ever in the White House and yet a very poor relationship with the U.S.
Maybe we should look a bit more closely at how we have handled that relationship recently?
You mean we should jump when he says jump, be his servant whenever called. No thanks.
How could anything that I have said lead to that conclusion?
NewMe is right, That’s exactly what you said.
We have arguably the most anglophile President ever in the White House and yet a very poor relationship with the U.S.
Maybe we should look a bit more closely at how we have handled that relationship recently?
We had an outstanding diplomat as acting Ambassador in Washington. We replaced her with Mandleson.
you’ve handled it well, the US government is a disgrace and you’ve made it known that you think so
‘I personally do not worry about America…I have a lot of faith in American democracy and in Americans, and I think you have very strong institutions.’
Dame Karen Pierce
If you know Trump everything.
Not so. We simply picked the wrong Ambassador.
Because that is what Trump wants and anything less he takes as a personal insult.
How do you handle a relationship with a country run by a moron who flirts with dictators, throws allies under the bus, ignores treaties, craps all over NATO allies- including threatening to annex Canada and Greenland, and attacks us economically through tariffs?
We made an ally out of Stalin. Handling President Trump is what career diplomats do, if given that task.
‘I personally do not worry about America…I have a lot of faith in American democracy and in Americans, and I think (the U.S.A. has) very strong institutions.”
…her advice for her soon-to-be-announced successor:
“Make the weather.’
Dame Karen Pierce
We only allied with Stalin because we were at war and needed him and the USSR. Winning that war was otherwise uncertain and would have taken much longer if we could.
What war are we in that makes us so desperate with Trump?
You still didn’t answer the question: his actions are not those of an ally, so how would you handle that relationship?
It’s either kowtow to his every whim or deny him even one thing a s he has a hissy fit and hits you with threats and tariffs.
We are at war now, British servicemen overseas under fire daily.
Our relationship with the U.S. has been badly mishandled.
‘Senior members of Donald Trump’s presidential transition team attempted on more than one occasion to intervene in Keir Starmer’s decision in 2024 to remove Karen Pierce as ambassador and replace her with Peter Mandelson, according to a former Trump official and a serving U.K. official.
Trump’s aides told Starmer’s National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell and his then-Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney that they wanted Pierce to remain in post during a meeting in Palm Beach in early December 2024, the officials told.’
Why?
“We are at war now, British servicemen overseas under fire daily.”
Entirely because of Trump’s decision to attack Iran. One he didn’t warn alles about and then just expects us all to fall in line when things don’t go his way, and then insults us too.
Why should we help him with this dumb war – which was likely done to distract people from the Epstein files.
Because it’s a good idea?
‘Access to advanced satellite intelligence, the BeiDou navigation system, modern radar technologies, and electronic warfare expertise can significantly enhance Iran’s ability to conduct more precise missile and drone strikes’
We know Iran has ICBM that can reach London.
‘The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) poses a significant, escalating threat to UK national security, with MI5 reporting over 20 foiled, IRGC-linked kidnapping or assassination plots targeting UK-based journalists and activists since 2022’
We know the IRGC are a threat to Britain’s national security.
got any evidence to support these claims? When did Iran get an ICBM?
‘A look at the giant Iranian missile hulls scattered across Israel and the West Bank
Meters long and potentially toxic, fragments of intercepted ballistic missiles now dot the landscape across the Holy Land, scarring the backyards of Israelis and Palestinians alike’
Reuters
27 March 2026
Pride ….. Tut tut….
Srsly????
?
We also have a total narcissist in The White House….who believes that the last thing a chat show host told him that day is a brilliant Tangerine Tinted policy and it becomes his idea.
This is reminiscent of two Yes, Minister sketches
‘I can’t remember the last time we had a minister with two ideas at the same time?’
When Sir Humphrey is confronted with having to change policy as parties change or in this case when days change and Trump forgets yesterday’s ramblings of a genius.
In this regard I have some sympathy for the otherwise useless Starmer in that the TACO policy flip-flops are so acute that he would in Sir Humphrey’s sage words be a
‘Stark staring raving schizophrenic.’
That may very well be the case. I have never met the President.
Nevertheless he has stated many times how fond of this country and its monarch he is.
That being the case, it takes quite extraordinary diplomatic maladroitness to turn that fondness into diffidence and distrust.
But that, unfortunately, putting all personal feelings aside in the national interest, as we undoubtedly should, is exactly what our government has managed to do.
“Il n’y a pas de principes, il n’y a que des événements ; il n’y a pas de lois, il n’y a que des circonstances : l’homme supérieur épouse les événements et les circonstances pour les conduire.”
How to you manage a relationship with a weather vane?
A relationship needs certain fixed ordinals.
Diplomacy. We had an outstanding and very experienced diplomat as acting Ambassador in Washington. We replaced her with Mandleson.
Oh please, get real money and influence is the only driving force for Trump. How more could we have bent over for Trump this past year or so. Meanwhile Carney is doing wonders and gaining more respect internally and externally by actually standing up to him. Weakness gets you no where with Trump, his father was effectively German but that hardly gains Germany any brownie points does it. He wants us to be a compliant disneyland golf resort worshipping him, not an independent thinking nation. Do you really think jumping in on this disastrous war would have benefited us, or indeed influenced Trump’s thinking on supporting us even 12 months down the line? He would have likely stated we were mere cowards again. We need to defend against Russia and being his pet will do nothing to ensure his support in that, even having lost much of our already cleaned out military resources doing his bidding now. Congress will be vital factor for NATO and uk defence generally and selling ourselves to Trump now is hardly going to endear us to them 10 months from now when Republicans will suffer big time in the mid terms and Trump becomes a lame duck or trues a coup.
You forgot one other driving force. He likes women. He listens to Susie Wiles.
Trump’s aides told Starmer’s National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell and his then-Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney that they wanted Dame Karen Pierce to remain in post.
Instead, HMG appointed Mandleson…
What could possibly have gone wrong?
Oops!
“You forgot one other driving force. He likes women.”
Well, he likes underage girls. Not quite the same thing.
You can’t back that up with any evidence.
I personally can’t, no.
The Epstein files are evidence aplenty.
I understand what you are saying. I believe you are saying that it’s not about being Trump’s synchophants and jumping when he beckons. It’s about understanding how to deal with him, standing our ground. I like what Spyinthesky pointed out about how Carne is handing him and Supportive Bloke’s weathervane analogy. By standing our ground the Tangerine Tyrant can spin all he wants, we are on stable ground of our choosing. In the meantime we need to ween ourselves off the US military.
I completely agree. Jonathan Powell knows how to handle the U.S. President. He also wanted Dame Karen Pierce as Ambassador in Washington.
President Trump is a businessman, transactional. Stuff like ‘standing up to him’ is too emotional. The U.S. President does not do much in the way of emotion. We saw how he reacted when he was shot.
Everything is a deal. If you want something from him, then he wants something from you.
He likes women. We should have a female Ambassador.
“He likes women. We should have a female Ambassador.”
Not sure many 14 year old girls (his type) would have the necessary credentials for that post.
Without any evidence, that is, at best, an utterly absurd thing to say…and you have.no evidence…
They’re in the Epstein files.
Which Trump claimed, before the election, he’d release in full. Has gone from that to delaying, to claiming they don’t exist, and fighting their release.
Which have also been heavily redacted. Why else redact? Why not release in full if it’d exonerate him?
Not to mention Katie Johnson’s account, among others.
He’s very obviously a paedophile. Only MAGATs can’t see it. Because they refuse to accept any criticism of their orange god.
‘we need to ween ourselves off the US military’
We supplied the U.S. with the 81mm mortar, 105mm light gun and 155mm towed artillery. In previous times we have supplied them with the English Electric Canberra bomber and the Harrier jump jet. It used to be a two way street, still is, a bit.
The real fact of the matter is that Britain has to spend more on defence and reconstituted our own defence industry. That will solve all manner of problems.
Agreed! Nuclear weapon technology, aircraft carrier construction…it goes on and on.
Problem is, the MAGA up and coming down not like the UK at all except as a parable of decay. Just look at Vance.
The real problem is most of you guys don’t know what MAGA actually is, therefore you viewpoint is incorrectly skewed. MAGA is predominantly working class Americans who believe in faith, family and country. This neo nazi corporate crap you have been fed is a load of old bollocks. If you want to see who the Corporations are in bed with go look at the Democrats and see bankrolls and votes for them. Yea it is about the money for Trump, not for Corporations but for the American People.
The people who voted for Trump are largely irrelevant now that he is in power, it’s those whispering in his ear to give him the latest ten-minute take that I am worried about. The main legacy his voters have left with MAGA is an inability to see benefits for the USA in international collaboration, because as you say a significant proportion the American working class who have never left their state and have the lowest levels of education in the West.
Curious to know, have you been to America other than for a holiday?
Never left Europe, but unfortunately your nation is the most heavily documented on Earth.
For the record I am an Englishman, born and bred, living in America. And, what I have found is most of the crap you read in the media and other online resources bears no resemblance to what it is like in real life. It’s like judging the UK based on Coronation Street and East Enders. Accents are about right but after that it veers off from reality. Though I do have to confess I haven’t seen either for 20 some years so it might have changed I guess.
My congratulations on your nationality, sorry for demeaning you! In truth I have been going beyond what I honestly believe to wind you up because I thought you were in a similar category to PKCasimir, but never mind now.
I like the idea of America and I (on the whole) like the Americans I have met. What I don’t like is the inability by much of the US political class to recognise that the world order they set up after WW2 is as much to their benefit as it is ours, and in some cases like Britain’s it has actually undermined our independence. And I particularly hate the exceptionalism that sets America up as the pillar of the free world, a position it has achieved largely through being incredibly lucky geographically rather than through any particular efforts. That sentiment is on the rise again and it will do America harm more quickly than most imagine.
There are elements of what you say I don’t disagree with, but also elements that I clearly do. What I do like about the USA, and this probably falls into the exceptionalism thing, is it does reward well if you work hard and do well. There is still a “get it done” attitude in most places. What they don’t like is paying for everything and getting screwed over. A very good example is the UN. They pay for 22% of the UN budget and it’s just a bash America shop. Trump is loud, brash, abrasive and could phrase things better, but he does seem to communicate the American feeling that many NATO countries abused American friendship to pay for their Social Welfare programs. The mutual benefit thing seems to be, or at least was, very one way. It wasn’t so long ago after all the UK was taking the piss and was mad at the Germans for the extent they took the “peace dividend. So it’s not like it’s not without precedent.
I fail to see how our Reliance on the US will finish soon as we’ve been virtually in their pocket for the last 30yrs..And totally Reliant for the past 15 yrs…Get Real.!
According to Wikipedia “[The US economy] is the world’s largest economy by nominal GDP, comprising roughly 26 percent of the world’s nominal GDP.”
So only paying 22% of the UN bill is a bargain. No? If I actually believed in lies, damn lies, and statistics, I might ask, why won’t the US pay their fair share?
F-35 – US dependent
CH-47 – US dependent
Trident – US dependent
SIGINT – US dependent
Heavy lift – US dependent
Submarines – US dependent
Artillery rocket systems – US dependent
Many more systems and programs
We are the most US dependent and integrated armed forces in Europe, and these boneheads want that to stop – but not pay for it.
Where does it say the committee doesn’t want to pay for it?
I’ll believe they want to pay for it when thry actually do, instead of the repeated “more jam tomorrow” spiel we’ve gotten for at least 2 decades now.
‘Show me the money’
No they want us to plan to stop or at least reduce it as much as possible. Big difference and makes great and perfect sense. Indeed the opposite could be deemed the deluded strategy.
Starti… sorry… STARTING to shift?
Perhaps the understatement of the century. Constant anti-UK rhetoric, pro-Putin agenda (and actions), blatant corruption, unapologetic manipulation of European elections which will no doubt include our own in due course.
Oh – and an inability to oust a known sexual predator, who in all likelyhood has committed far graver crimes with children on a certian well known island – from the top seat in their country.
I genuinely believe that in the event of a war involving the UK – the USA is more likely to back our aversary than us. That’s the new default position, without any other context.
If Argentina tried again tomorrow – how do you think it’d play out?
Yes indeed, you could say that long-standing assumptions are beginning to shift. Arguably, they finised shifting some time ago.
Argentina does not have any realistic hope of militarily regaining the Falklands and will not for many years yet.
Argentina’s real problem is the large international – mainly Chinese – fishing fleets on the edge of Argentina”s Exclusive Economic Zone, which siphon off stocks of whitefish and squid where krill rise on currents swelling from the ocean depths
Incidentally, the increase in size of the Chinese High seas fishing fleet also coincides with the marked decline of migratory fish returning to British rivers to spawn.
I’m aware that Argentina isn’t in a position to do battle – not yet anyway. My point was to illustrate the uncertianty of the USA’s loyalty today and into the future.
To demonstrate that the assistance we recieved in 1982 could actually be an adversarial force in 2042.
Hardly a stretch, given the magnitude of recent events.
Delusional comments re Trump. Time to change your tin foil hat.
The scale of the rock under which you live – it begs belief. I mean turn on the news, he’s flagrantly undermining the entegrity of NATO on a daily basis one minute, insulting British forces the next.
Social, political and societal norms are being turned upside down in America at an alarming rate, both at locally and projected abroad onto everyone else.
I envy your ignorance, it must grant you blissful sleep at night.
The integrity of NATO, as you put it, was undermined well before Trump by the feckless Europeans. Care to list some of those ‘norms’ currently being undermined in the US? Re Trump and Epstein, given that Biden was President for four years if there was a scintilla of actual evidence incriminating Trump don’t you think it would have been released well before now?
Basically come away from over reliance on the United States but hope they keep sharing intelligence and future projects because we have no money to establish our own.
We have been over reliant on our status as an unsinkable aircraft carrier on this side of the Atlantic, which has thus offset our reducing military capability. Since our closest threat is from the Russia and its allies it has always made more sense to focus on that rather than our pinprick capability as a blue water ‘power’. Since Europeans are our closest neighbours and of course in NATO it is a no-brainer to look towards closer co-operation with them. The North Atlantic is as much in our interests as is the US so less cosying up to the whims of their presidents and foreign policies is essential.
Cosying up to the whims of European presidents and foreign policies is no better. Some of them are just as hostile to the UK as Trump.
Trump is an autocratic dictator and the US constitution permits that. And they are 5000 miles away across an ocean. European decisions are decided collectively, and nations all have an opt-out. In our case both the civil service and some politicians often failed to use the opt-out, and implemented regulations rigidly. Europe is only 20 miles off shore, so regardless of Trump or Brexit they still affect us, except now we have no say in things.
Well the USA is not the enemy, regardless of daft comments from the current president. However the USA is in decline as a world power. This was recognised by the foreign affairs select committee 15 years ago when they asked William Hague about it. He felt at the time that we didn’t need to worry until 2050. China is outbuilding them in everything, pretty much. So really we should have started then. However 2008 financial mess made the whole thing moot. As for today, Tempest is a good start, shipbuilding is in a better place. Capability takes time to build, let’s hope the government are listening and build actual sovereign capability and don’t swap dependence on the USA for one based on Europe or elsewhere.
For defence of the UK mainland we don’t need to be dependent on anyone and indeed we face almost zero threat in that regards. We can’t project power on a global basis without support of allies either American, European or Commonwealth.
However as both the USA and China have just discovered no one can project global power without the support of allies.
China’s fuel supply is currently being throttled by is ally who is now charging it tolls to pass through international waters and its massive world beating navy is no where to be found primarily because it has no regional allies in which to base assets.
America just got bitch slapped by its pooddle when it realized it doesn’t own Diego Garcia and then realized that the only two aircraft carriers it can deploy equipped with F18 which is pretty dated are able to do very little when talking a medium sized country like Iran.
For a country with zero threat to its mainland:
2006 Citizen assassinated in London by polonium-210
2018 UK citizen killed, policeman and two other citizens seriously injured by CBRN attacks in quantities able to kill thousands.
2024-Feb 2026 80,000 small boat illegal immigrants
2026 2xICBM fired at British Overseas Territory at a range of from Iran demonstrating ability of Iran’s ICBMs to reach UK
‘A strike profile extending into the Indian Ocean demonstrates not merely extended range, but Iran’s deliberate abandonment of strategic ambiguity…Iran is no longer signaling restraint. It is signalling reach, and doing so under live warfighting conditions.’
Not one of those constituents a conventional threat to the UK mainland. Suggest you check the dictionary for description of mainland in island chains.
First, why don’t you consult a dictionary as to the meaning of ‘constituent’…then come back with a suitably amended comment so that we all may understand it.
How did you manage to get the Chagos archipelago as being in the British isle’s.
Are you American? Do you have issues with geography?
I say again: ‘A strike profile extending into the Indian Ocean demonstrates not merely extended range, but Iran’s deliberate abandonment of strategic ambiguity…Iran is no longer signaling restraint. It is signalling reach, and doing so under live warfighting conditions.’
Chagos Archipelago: The British Indian Ocean Territory.
Chagos Archipelago, specifically the Diego Garcia military base, 2,500 miles from Tehran.
United Kingdom distance from Iran 2,200 miles.
I hope it was a good lunch.
UK – Iran distance is 2753.9miles
Closest distance between countries Borders: (Straight line or Air distance)
Kilometers: 3524 km. / Miles: 2190 miles. / Nautical Miles: 1903 NM.
Chinese wunderwaffe haven’t proven very wunderful for the Iranians, have they?
And what Chinese”wunderwaffe” have they used, exactly? Most of their stuff is either Russian or Merkin…
So regain sovereignty by moving away from the US and getting getting closer to the EU. Oh what a surprise.
Was always the better option. Being the 51st State if that were even as high a relationship as they would allow us is hardly a signal of independence is it. We are similar to European States, we are a more distant Puerto Rica to the US. Prefer the former for all its annoyances myself. We imagine the US is like us when in reality it is anything but. Geez more Americans have German decent than British these days.
One of the most powerful states within Europe vs beiny a *very* *Very* *VERY* junior partner to the US.
Pre 2010, the most powerful European state, 2026 below Germany, France, spain and Italy, soon to be below Poland unless we pull our finger out and start actually increasing defence spending on actual equipment rather than talking about it and trying to shift more government spending to the defence budget.
Fascinating interview on BBC with German General Breuer. This quote really peaked my interest in how they are seeking to achieve operational independence: It seems both clearer and more in action than SDR… they also have a path to add an additional 80,000 regular servicemen and 200,000 reserves over the next few years… meanwhile we have set a target of 70,000 trained regular soldiers by 2028… and 100,000 combined regular and reserve by 2032.
“We, in Germany, have set a clear prioritised list,” says Breuer.
“What we need is ISR [Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance], what we need is drones. What we need is deep precision strike capability. Also space capabilities have to come into this. So these are our most urgent needs here. But like I said, we have put it on a prioritised list, and we are working on it, and we are well on our way.”
Difference between German and UK thinking even with the 70 years of mental stress on the German psyche in that time. We sadly need a disaster to get us off our butts as sadly we see even in these pages from some delusional voices who just can’t wean them off being patsies to a US headed irretrievably into island America and innate and ignorant distaste for Europeans, foreigners generally indeed. We aren’t special to them and as the war becomes just another historical footnote ever more so for the Joe in the street. We need to get used to it and see who our true allies are. Canada and Australia along with Japan and Europe are now our vital colleagues in this new World and ever more so as American decline threatens their very existence as a democratic entity. Americans can’t handle that now, what the hell will they be like when China and potentially even India start dominating World affairs and MAGA can no longer fool the masses that it isn’t so.
Quite a welcome turnaround for Germany which until recently received cheap energy from Russia and conflicted about the bear threat, was their really one. The Baltic countries are under no illusions. Switching off German built nuclear energy also took the biscuit during a euro energy crunch.
Good move…but, it does not happen overnight. The withdrawal from Kabul shook me. A total waste of UK and European lives, like Iraq was the responsibility of the liar Blair along with his sellout to the PIRA. The stench left by politicians will never leave my nostrils, a Lawyers Cabal made up of scum.
Realities? Better off without US equipment with its conditions, limitations and veto’s on use. There are plenty of good alternatives that will suffice.
We are an Atlantic/Northern European power, not a world mover and shaker anymore. Why feed taxpayer money into a US MIC?
If hybrid war is the future? Prep for it for pity’s sake. My take is a new European Alliance, Nordics, Balts, Germany and Poland and of course Dutch. Maybe even the freeloading Irish will get off their arses.
Learn from the Fins and Swedes, civil defence revamp, military service as an attractive career for young people. Move away from welfarism and its cancerous effects on citizenry. Mostly? Stop the control freakery of government, a government who in reality are scared shitless of one thing. Ordinary people just saying “enough”.
Following the advice of the current Vice President, JD Vance in his interview in April last year, over the topic of Europeans and the Iraq War:
Quote
“I think a lot of European nations were right about our invasion of Iraq. And frankly, if the Europeans had been a little more independent, and a little more willing to stand up, then maybe we could have saved the entire world from the strategic disaster that was the American-led invasion of Iraq.”
always blaming the others for their own failures, this is pathetic
Strange that everyone on this site knows how far our military capabilities have fallen, we’re essentially incapable of fighting any sort of peer war for longer than afew weeks. The Trump administration calls us (and our European neighbours) out on it, and people are up in arms. Now thats not to say we should be fighting Iran, we’re right to stay out of that. But the US adminstration is 100% correct on its assesment of our capabilities. European NATO inc us freeloaded for 30 years. Its way beyond time we actually bloody did something and invested in our own defence. We’re rapidly turning into a joke.
Freeloading, except for that one time some little event happened on 9/11 and the entire alliance went to shed blood in the sand for the best part of twenty years. Such a trivial matter, hardly worth mentioning it really. Silly me for bringing it up!
I went to Iraq and Afghanistan! Doesn’t change anything, we havn’t spent anywhere near enough for three decades, and now our forces are where they are.
You are correct, yet so deep is the rot that it it will take 3.5% ‘right now’, rising to 5% post 2030 and ring fenced for decades, to provide the considerable and sustained financial clout required, especially if everyone is so determined to replace US military equipment and systems over the next 20 years.
This government is heading towards a third of the way though its (without doubt) single term, it has done precisely nothing about defence, bar a lot of hot hair.
All they have made is vague, ‘when economic conditions allow’ bullshit, nothing promises.
Surely after recent events it’s pretty obvious that the U.K. must learn that it cannot rely on the US and for that matter the EU to protect it. All NATO countries will now have doubts about the credibility of the alliance if it comes to Article 5. The biggest problem for the U.K. is as a country we are skint and deeply in debt, this government prefers to spend what money we generate on anything but defence. The Welfare State and spending on immigrants and Foreign Aid seem more important than protecting this country and its people and a large number of our citizens owe their allegiance elsewhere.
This is great news. Now we can cancel the 1962 lease of American Trident missile and fire control for Vanguard and Dreadnought class. And also sharing of Nuclear weapon and reactor tech. for RN submarines. We can do it all we don’t need the USA.
Ah yes, but we can give up on our US supplied tech nukes with no Permissive Action Links, and buy French nukes all fitted with US supplied tech Permissive Action Links.
This will apparently make us ‘independent’ 🤷♂️
There is zero american item in French nukes.
It will take at least 10 to 20 years for the UK to disentangle its self from the US, that’s after we put in-place the programmes to fill the capacity gape’s the UK’s armed forces are suffering at the moment. We have no choice but to follow the Rabid dog in the WH and just hope that the American people get’s as fed up with his BS as much as the rest of the world is fed up with him and his muppet show.
He has opened a can of worms by attacking Iran with no objectives and no end game and so it is going to take years to put right so this will probably be the beginning of the end for Trump (finger crossed). The problem is we will get pulled into this especially if the USMC goes in and the body bags start heading back to America.
Body bags ( there will be plenty) or not why would that mean we have to alter our defensive stance? TBH we would not make a dent in Iran anyway.
I agree we will make little to no difference to the result but the Rabid dog in the WH will demand we stand with him.
An estimated 85% of worldwide drone components originate from China.
Are we going to move away from.our reliance on China?
10-15% of our electricity comes from France. Are we going to move away from our reliance on them?
BAE Systems supplies components for THAAD and for other advanced U.S. weapons systems.
The idea that we should distance ourselves from a long standing and extremely helpful ally, at great cost to our national interest, is just plain batty.
Britain’s interests must come first, of course, but those would have been far better served by appointing the highly capable and experienced Dame Karen Pierce as British Ambassador in Washington rather than a Labour Party insider with a dodgy past. Why was Mandledon appointed? We would probably know by now except for a dog eating someone’s phone…
The nonsense that has been made of our relationship with the United States beggars belief. Why that has happened is now of great interest to the Police and the voters.
Your delusional, servile worship.of the Merkin Hegemon is quite frankly nauseating 🤮
You’re not really a star, are you…
People need to learn to look beyond the noise and think strategically, not emotionally. Trump’s behaviour is to acheive a purpose. Escalate to escalate. Keep people guessing. Ask for the family gold when you are happy to accept silver in a negotiation.
And while he can be a crass twat… the UK has maintained its expectation of being a Rolls Royce driver while expecting to spend Hyundai money. If calling out bluff means the government ponies up some cash for weapons, all the better..
You guys are so much paving way with the Islamists that have invaded your country. No later than sooner, they will start dictating how UK is ran using the fundamentals of sharia. Moron!
JD Vance, is that you?
lol maybe stop believing everything you read on X