Shot in arm for Navy and space technology
Investment will boost defences
INVESTMENT in the Royal Navy and space technology will boost the nation’s defences over the coming years, the government has announced.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, revealing his Defence Review plans to the House of Commons, revealed there would be ‘increased deployability and technological advantage’ as the nation moves forward into a new age.
But Mr Wallace admitted the Army would be forced to shrink to 72,500 soldiers by 2025 as part of a move towards drones and cyber warfare.
The Army currently has 76,500 personnel and has not been at its ‘established strength’ of 82,000 troops since the middle of the last decade, Mr Wallace said.
Stephen Morgan, Portsmouth South MP and shadow defence minister, said: ‘This has been a decade of decline for our armed services and the government has confirmed today yet again further cuts to numbers.
‘Hi-tech equipment is essential, but highly trained personnel are indispensable.’
There were also fears aerospace giant Airbus, which produces military satellites at its manufacturing hub in Portsmouth, would be impacted following the announcement – with it thought the company would have to bid for new contracts against US firms, potentially putting jobs at risk in the city.
But Mr Wallace told MPs: ‘Strategic command will partner alongside the RAF to deliver a step-change in our space capabilities. From next year, we will start delivering a UK-built intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellite constellation.
‘Space is just one area in which the Ministry of Defence will prioritise more than £6.6bn of research development and experimentation over the next four years.’
The news was well received by Airbus.
Richard Franklin, managing director of Airbus, said the firm ‘welcomed the commitment in the Command Paper to further developing sovereign industrial capability and buying British’.
‘It is a vital step which will help us to build on our substantial industrial presence in the UK, particularly in space and satellite manufacturing, in addition to the UK skills base which we rely on to deliver our leading space services,’ he said.
‘Space is one of the key areas where the UK can positively contribute to our allies because we manufacture and operate our military satellites as one system that has given world-class service over 50 years of operation.’