Britain is adapting to face tomorrow’s threats
Tomorrow’s publication of our Command Paper Defence in a Competitive Age marks the biggest shift in UK defence policy since the end of the Cold War.
Thirty years ago, the world watched as our focus suddenly spun from Eastern Europe to the Middle East. Britain joined the US-led coalition to free Kuwait. Some 53,000 UK personnel contributed to a major armoured campaign across the desert. As a demonstration of the West’s strength, it couldn’t be bettered. Kuwait was liberated. A once powerful dictator was humiliated. Friends and foes alike saw that in a straight armour-onarmour fight, few could win against an interoperable international coalition. And, as a young commissioned soldier, I was one of those who never forgot the shock and awe of a Tomahawk missile racing unerringly through the streets of Baghdad towards its target.
Thirty years on and the threat has changed beyond recognition. The rise of China, the expansion of the internet and the proliferation of technology are challenging Western security and creating global competition over our trade, our values, and our interests.
Today’s front line stretches into every corner of the virtual world. We can no longer take for granted the superiority of Western capabilities. Our enemies have infinitely more options. Encryption, precision and information operations complicate the threat picture. We find ourselves constantly confronted in the “grey zone” – aggressive actions below the threshold of open conflict.
At the same time, even the most basic of sensors can now find a target and cue a response. The use of Turkish unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Syria and Libya has decimated forces in areas of the deep battlefield that for decades were considered safe for modern equipment. It’s a reminder that if you can’t hide you can be found and if you can be found you can be killed.
But we are clear-eyed about the dangers. We have a new approach: globally engaged, constantly campaigning and forward deployed. And, thanks to the Prime Minister, we have an extra £24 billion to reorganise and re-equip our Armed Forces to defend against tomorrow’s threats.
Our investments reflect the need to operate and sometimes fight in new and uncharted territories. There will be more money for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, more for electronic warfare, more for strike capabilities, as well as more for improved sensors and defensive measures. We will focus billions on researching and developing autonomous systems, directed energy weapons and command and control systems. We will expand our national cyber-force to contest adversaries in and through cyberspace. There will be a new space command to enhance the co-ordination of the UK’s military and commercial space operation. And knitting all these capabilities together across every domain will be a “digital backbone”.
Our Armed Forces will be making more of their global footprint. At sea we will have more ships, submarines, sailors and a future commando force deployed on an enduring basis, to contribute to security and uphold freedom of navigation. And at the forefront of our future flotilla will be our flagship carrier, which embarks on its first operational deployment through the Mediterranean and Pacific in a few months’ time.
On land our Army will be spearheaded by a new special operations ranger regiment. Able to operate alongside partners in highrisk environments, these grey-zone warriors will be rapidly deployable across the world. We will build on our partnerships with Oman, Kenya, Belize and Germany, delivering persistent training across the globe. And when alerted, our nation will be able to call upon a very-high-readiness global response force. Whatever is required, whether support for emerging crises, humanitarian effort or high-end warfighting, they will be there. We won’t just have troops dropping from the air but an expanded fleet of F-35Bs soaring in the skies overhead. They will be augmented by a new future combat air system, mixing crewed, un-crewed and autonomous platforms.
Our investment won’t just strengthen our ability to act independently, it will also make us a stronger partner. Nato will remain our most important alliance, as will our enduring relationships with the US, France and Germany. But we will also continue bolstering our other partnerships from our Joint Expeditionary Forces and the Northern Group to our deepening work in Africa (particularly East Africa), the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.
As the threat changes, so must we. Thirty years ago Saddam’s error was to take on the Western way of warfare. But others have been watching. They won’t make the same mistake again. So the UK’s Armed Forces are adapting to face tomorrow’s threats. They will be more integrated, more active and more capable than ever before. And they will guarantee that, in an ever-more competitive age, Global Britain will be ready for whatever comes next.