Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
OUR LASER VISION
Energy weapons & AI in £16.5bn hi-tech upgrade for our Forces
GOING Some existing equipment could be axed
posts, Mr Johnson said. However, he admitted some equipment will be axed, saying: “We will need to act speedily to remove or reduce less relevant capabilities – and this will allow our new investTe c h n o l o g i e s to “revolutionise ment to be focused on the technologies warfare” will be made available to our that will revolutionise warfare.” armed forces under the plan announced The £16.5bn boost comes over four by the Prime Minister. years on top of the Ministry of Defence’s
They include an Artificial Intelligence £41.4bn annual budget, in addition to the agency and a National Cyber Force, Government’s manifesto commitment as well as a Space Command to a 0.5% real-terms increase for that the PM hopes will be every year until 2024. able to launch a British Unions called for the rocket the year after next. cash to be used to buy
B ori s J ohnson told British equipment. Garry MPS: “Our warships and Graham of Prospect said: c ombat vehicles wi l l “We must make sure that carr y directed energ y this funding supports weapons, destroying defence industrial jobs targets with inexhaustible here in the UK.” lasers. For them, the phrase Chief of the Defence Staff ‘out of ammunition’ will General Sir Nick Carter
CHIEF Gen Sir Nick Carter become redundant.” said swarms of drones are
Soldiers will also be able already used, for example in to order a “swarm attack by drones” on Libya and in fighting between Azerbaijan the battlefields of the future. and Armenia. He added: “Swarms of
The PM confirmed the building of drones are undoubtedly here and now, more battleships on home soil, giving the and here for the future I would guess.” go-ahead to eight Type 26 and five Type He also predicted artificial intelligence 31 frigates, along with money to develop would help speed up decision-making “the next generation of warships”. time on the ground and allow British
Hardware orders made possible by the forces to outmanoeuvre their opponents. new cash injection will create 40,000 jobs and protect “hundreds of thousands” of
LASERS will replace traditional guns on British warships and tanks as part of a £16.5billion futuristic defence strategy unveiled yesterday.