Category: Defence

The speech made by John Healey, the Secretary of State for Defence, at the RUSI Land Warfare Conference held at Church House, Westminster in London on 17 June 2025.

David, thank you very much. Thank you all for inviting me here.

Under your leadership, this institution RUSI really has gone from strength to strength in your last five years despite your first two years as Chair being that very tough period for us all during Covid.

So David let me thank you this afternoon, to Rachel and the hugely impressive team here at RUSI, not just for this conference, for hosting us for these two days but also for serving as not just simply a long-standing critical friend to government – yes long standing but much needed critic of the government.

And really in the way that the world changing the way as it is and defence is changing in the way that it is – I think we need this institution’s expert independent voice to be heard more loudly now than ever.

So thank you for the work that you have done and thank you all of you involved in RUSI.

At the outset now perhaps I can take the opportunity to say a few words on the deteriorating situation in the Middle East.

Because this is a dangerous moment for the entire region. And we as a government have been consistent, clear and strong.

We have always supported Israel’s right to security and we have had grave concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme.

And I repeat the call on all sides to show restraint this afternoon.

Because a diplomatic resolution rather than military action is the only route to lasting stability in the region.

And in terms of our UK operational response, the military assets including the additional Typhoon jets announced by the Prime Minister have begun arriving – the first wave have already arrived and the rest will follow in coming days.

And I have ensured that force protection is now at its highest level.

So this operational response is to protect our personnel, it is to reassure our partners and it is to reinforce the urgent need for de-escalation.

Returning to today, to your programme – I remember last year’s Land Warfare Conference – I think it was one of if not the first public speech I gave after having the privilege of taking up this job. And it came just a week after the Prime Minister kicked off the Strategic Defence Review.

And I told you in this room actually back then that it would be a Review that would be done with the Army, and not to the Army.

And I hope with General Walker giving the SDR what he called his “unequivocal support and commitment” this morning – you’re confidence that we met that promise.

And some of you in the room here, you were part of dozens of submissions that we had from serving personnel, for which we are really grateful.

And not just the submissions including formal discussions with senior Army officers but actually I hope you see in the SDR the proposals in the core submissions from the Army have been accepted in the review by the reviewers almost in full.

And this is an SDR that will transform our Army – transform it to meet the challenges and threats in the decades ahead.

And it will do so by combining the future technology of drones and AI with the heavy metal of our tanks and artillery to the deter threats we may face.

Many of you have been around for long enough to have seen previous reviews. Many of you have been around for long enough probably to be thinking – well great promises but we’ve seen so many of these reviews put on shelves and gather dust next to the previous reviews that came before.

The point that I stress today is that for me and everyone in defence, the ten months of hard work to get to the point where we have launched the SDR is just the start not the end of the work that is needed.

So our adversaries aren’t hanging around and nor are we.

And have a plan now in government to make Britain safer, secure at home and strong abroad.

2.6 per cent of GDP on defence in 2027 as the Chancellor confirmed last week in the Spending Review. This gives us the means to implement the SDR.

And the SDR is a review, a defence review – the first for a generation – which aims to build out rather than hollow out our armed forces.

A review that is backed by an ambition to hit 3 per cent of GDP spending in the next parliament. And a review that is matched and underwritten by the prospect of a decade of rising defence investment.

It will bring big changes to our armed forces.

You discussed it this afternoon with that top level distinguished panel – the SDR will see an integrated force – greater than the sum of its parts – but that does not mean a lessening the importance of the Army.

The SDR made promises of an Army that is larger in size and greater in lethality.

And today, I’ll speak about how I’ll play a role as Defence Secretary alongside General Roly to deliver on those pledges.

Let me start with what matters most to me and that’s our people.

To maintain advantage, every Army must evolve with the times. Technologies emerge. Tactics advance but the one thing that stays constant is the need for talent.

Ultimately, it is people who win, it’s the people who prevail, it’s the people who win wars.

The British Army has in its ranks some of the finest soldiers the world over.

But for too long, our Army has been asked to do more with less.

And like most things in life, building up is actually harder than cutting down.

But we are acting already to stem the losses that we’ve seen long term in recent years, and while reversing that long-term decline can’t be done overnight – that will take time – but I want the number of full-time soldiers to rise to at least 76,000 into the next parliament.

And let me set out some of the elements of how we will do that.

First, I really don’t recognise the claims that you often hear in the media and from the commentators that somehow the next generation don’t want to fight for their country.

In the last decade, one million young people applied to join the military. They are the very lifeblood of the Army.

Every day, young men and women stepping forward in search of the opportunity, the sense of purpose and pride, in search of something greater than they have in their lives at present.

And yet of that million, more than 3 in 4 simply gave up in large part because of long delays in the process.

They gave up before they were even recruited or rejected.

So in response, we’ve set new targets, we’ve scrapped old policies and red tape and we’re starting to turn those numbers around.

And my pledge to you is that the Army will have the pipeline of people it needs to defend our nation and our nation’s interests.

And just as we’ll encourage more people to join, we’ll persuade more people to stay. And we’ll do that by renewing the nation’s contract with those who serve and the families who support them as they serve.

Better pay, better housing, better conditions, better kit.

The thing that really has troubled me most in the last month was the Continuous Attitude Survey that found that only 1 in 4 service personnel believe that they’re valued by society.

That has plummeted over the last 12 years. The best way to prove to those people, to our personnel that the nation cares is not just what we say but it’s what we do.

And that’s why it was important to me that last year we were able to award our service personnel the biggest pay increase for over 20 years. It was important to me that we could follow it up this year with another above inflation pay award.

Homes with mould, damp and leaks are a betrayal of their service and we’re starting to put that right.

We’ve bought back now 36,000 military family homes from a private funds into public control. We’ve pledged an extra £1.5 billion to put into military family homes in this Parliament as part of £7 billion investment that will go into military accommodation in the next few years.

We’re introducing a new Consumer Charter – the basics that any of us would expect from any home that we occupy, any home that we rent – we’re doing that for our forces families.

We’re extending Wraparound Childcare to those deployed overseas just to help make family life a little easier.

We’ve legislated in Parliament for a new independent voice – the Armed Forces Commissioner that will help improve service life and I’m happy to say that from last week applications for that post are now open.

Me, the ministerial team, General Roly, we all share a determination to make life better for members of our armed forces and the families that support them.

And in doing so, we will – for the first time in a generation – grow the British Army.

Warfighting and the welfare of our forces are not in conflict or competition. They go hand in hand.

We cannot have our soldiers worried about a broken boiler or how they’ll make ends meet if we want the Army’s organising principle to be – as General Roly said – “warfighting at scale”.

And in a more dangerous world, this is a shift we simply have to make.

Before I go further, I want to note that at least 15 people were killed and more than 100 injured last night in Kyiv, a grim reminder that whatever else is happening in the world, Putin’s war still rages on eastern flank of Europe.

Ukrainians are continuing to fight with huge courage – civilians and military alike and I just say to you that the UK and the UK Government’s commitment to those Ukrainians remains as steadfast as it has been from the start and we will stand with the Ukrainian people for as long as it takes.

We will stand with them and we will work with them and for the purposes of this conference we will also learn from them.

Because the revolutionary technology in Ukraine – helped by the UK – has been the drone.

So lethal in force, they’re now killing more people than artillery – the first time Offensive Support has been overtaken since World War One.

So systemic to strategy and tactics as the invention of the machine gun or to the heavy armour specialists in the audience – the tank.

So effective in targeting, that the Russian military has swapped armour for motorbikes to evade detection.

And so maximum in impact that we saw a little over 100 drones destroy or damaged more than 50 of Putin’s strategic bombers in Operation Spider Web.

This is why the SDR calls for that tenfold increase in the Army’s lethality. Credit must go to Roly for his foresight and his ambition in setting that out.

He set the ambition. He set the vision. And I’m backing that as Defence Secretary with the funding to deliver it.

So today I’m announcing and confirming that we from this year will be investing more than £100 million in new, initial funding to develop land drone swarms.

Our Autonomous Collaborative Platforms will fly alongside the Apache attack helicopters and enhance the Army’s ability to strike, survive and win on the battlefield.

You’ve seen the vision in the SDR, you’ve heard the plan from Roly earlier – this will be a game-changer. It will be applying the lessons from Ukraine in a world-leading way, it will be putting the UK at the leading edge of innovation in NATO.

Alongside our ability to move forward with greater combat mass, we’re investing in AI and drones to strike further and faster through Project ASGARD.

In well under a year, we’ve developed and procured these recce-strike systems that allow our soldiers to connect the sensor to the shooter in record beating time.

These are systems already tested. These are systems that in part are already in Estonia. These are systems that we plan to deploy in 2027 as part of NATO’s Steadfast Defender Exercise.

The lessons from ASGARD will inform our new integrated Digital Targeting Web as recommended in the SDR. The SDR has challenged us to develop this over the next two years. And so in order to meet that challenge, I’ve also made the commitment that we will back that by £1 billion of new investment.

Finally, this isn’t just about the world-leading programmes that I’ve mentioned, but it’s also about embedding drones into our training, in our psyche and in our culture.

And by doubling spending to £4 billion on uncrewed systems in this Parliament through the SDR and by establishing a new Drone Centre we’ll accelerate the use of uncrewed air systems across all of our services.

The Army will train thousands of operators on First Person View, Surveillance and Dropper drones.

This summer, the Army will begin the rollout of 3,000 strike drones followed by a further rollout of over 1,000 surveillance drones.

And we will equip every Section with a drone.

And together, this work marks a crucial shift in our deterrence. It sends a clear signal to anyone seeking to do us or our allies harm and sets the pathway to an Army that can indeed be ten times more lethal.

Let me draw if I may to an end by saying that the British Army has always been a force feared by our adversaries and respected by allies.

And in this new era of threat, we will be asking more of our soldiers. And it is only right our soldiers expect more of their government.

In return, they’ll be members of an Army with better pay, with better housing, with better kit. They’ll be members of an Army greater in lethality, greater in size.

An Army that makes Britain safer – secure at home and strong abroad.

The speech made by John Healey, the Secretary of State for Defence, on 6 June 2025.

Bonjour tout le monde.

81 years ago today, tyranny bowed when the courage of free men forced open the gates of liberation.

Within hours, the people of Sainte-Mère-Église had control of their destiny again.

Within three months, the Tricolor once again flew from the Eiffel Tower.

Within a year the continent of Europe would once again know peace.

It is a rare thing to have changed the course of history, but that is what the veterans of Normandy did.

They fought for a future that they knew they may not live to see.

And through their valour we inherited a free world.

We are humbled to be in your company. We give eternal thanks for your sacrifice.

And I’m also grateful to the Comité du Débarquement, as the stewards of our shared history. With every year that passes, your work becomes more important.

And 81 years on, we return to Normandy to ask:

What principle guided 150,000 souls across that body of water?

What belief compelled the paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st to thunder through the skies above us?

What force drove the ‘Ivy’ men to charge these dunes at Utah?

…all to liberate people they had never known in a land they had never seen.

And that is the power of unity, the power of friendship, the faith in democracy and freedom.

And through the sacrifices made on these shores we learn the true strength of alliances.

The strength of our war-fighters standing together as they continue to do on operations today – personnel from Manchester, from Marseilles, from Minnesota.

The strength of our nations standing together in NATO to deter current conflicts and adversaries.

The responsibility to safeguard D-Day’s legacy and freedom rests today with us.

So, let us give everlasting honour to our Normandy veterans… for whom the Longest Day never ended.

And let us find the strength to carry on in their names and to carry forward their cause.

Thank you.

The statement made by John Healey, the Secretary of State for Defence, in the House of Commons on 2 June 2025.

With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on the strategic defence review. I have laid the full 130-page review before the House, and I am grateful for the opportunity to do so and to make this statement on our first day back from the recess.

The world has changed, and we must respond. The SDR is our Plan for Change for defence: a plan to meet the threats that we face, a plan to step up on European security and to lead in NATO, a plan that learns the lessons from Ukraine, a plan to seize the defence dividend resulting from our record increase in defence investment and boost jobs and growth throughout the United Kingdom, and a plan to put the men and women of our armed forces at the heart of our defence plans, with better pay, better kit and better housing. Through the SDR, we will make our armed forces stronger and the British people safer.

I thank those who led the review, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, General Barrons and Dr Fiona Hill,

“a politician, a soldier and a foreign policy expert”,

as they describe themselves in their foreword. They, alongside others, have put in a huge effort. This is a “first of its kind”, externally led review, the result of a process in which we received 8,000 submissions from experts, individuals, organisations and Members on both sides of the House, including the shadow Defence Secretary. I thank them all, and I thank those in the Ministry of Defence who contributed to this SDR. It is not just the Government’s defence review, but Britain’s defence review. The Government endorse its vision and accept its 62 recommendations, which will be implemented.

The threats that we face are now more serious and less predictable than at any time since the end of the cold war. We face war in Europe, growing Russian aggression, new nuclear risks, and daily cyber-attacks at home. Our adversaries are working more in alliance with one another, while technology is changing the way in which war is fought. We are living in a new era of threat, which demands a new era for UK defence. Since the general election we have demonstrated that we are a Government dedicated to delivering for defence. We have committed ourselves to the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war, with an extra £5 billion this year and 2.5% of GDP in 2027, and the ambition to hit 3% in the next Parliament. However, there can be no investment without reform, and we are already driving the deepest reforms of defence in 50 years. Those reforms will ensure clearer responsibilities, better delivery, stronger budget control and new efficiencies worth £6 billion in this Parliament, all of which will be reinvested directly in defence.

Our armed forces will always do what is needed to keep the nation safe, 24/7, in more than 50 countries around the world; but in a more dangerous world, as the SDR confirms, we must move to warfighting readiness, and warfighting readiness means stronger deterrence. We need stronger deterrence to avoid the huge costs, human and economic, that wars create, and we prevent wars by being strong enough to fight and win them. That is what has made NATO the most successful defence alliance in history over the last 75 years. We will establish a new “hybrid Navy” by building Dreadnought, AUKUS submarines, cutting-edge warships and new autonomous vessels. Our carriers will carry the first hybrid airwings in Europe. We will develop the next generation Royal Air Force with F-35s, upgraded Typhoons, sixth-generation Global Combat Air Programme jets and autonomous fighters to defend Britain’s skies and to be able to strike anywhere in the world, and we will make the British Army 10 times more lethal by combining the future technology of drones, autonomy and artificial intelligence with the heavy metal of tanks and artillery.

For too long, our Army has been asked to do more with less. We inherited a long-running recruitment crisis, following 14 years of Tory cuts to full-time troops. Reversing the decline will take time, but we are acting to stem the loss and aiming to increase the British Army to at least 76,000 full-time soldiers in the next Parliament. For the first time in a generation, we have a Government who want the number of regular soldiers to rise. This Government will protect our island home by committing £1 billion in new funding to homeland air and missile defences, creating a new cyber-command to defend Britain in the grey zone, and preparing legislation to improve defence readiness.

As Ukraine shows, a country’s armed forces are only as strong as the industry that stands behind them, so this SDR begins a new partnership with industry, innovators and investors. We will make defence an engine for growth to create jobs and increase prosperity in every nation and region of the UK. Take our nuclear enterprise. We will commit to investing £15 billion in the sovereign warhead programme in this Parliament, supporting over 9,000 jobs. We will establish continuous submarine production through investments in Barrow and Derby that will enable us to produce a submarine every 18 months, allowing us to grow our nuclear attack fleet to up to 12 submarines and supporting more than 20,000 jobs. On munitions, we will invest £6 billion in this Parliament, including in six new munitions factories and in up to 7,000 new long-range weapons, supporting nearly 2,000 jobs. The lives of workers in Barrow, Derby and Govan, where the Prime Minister and I were this morning, are being transformed not just by this defence investment but by the pride and purpose that comes with defence work. In the coming years, more communities and more working people will benefit from the defence dividend that this SDR brings.

Ukraine also tells us that whoever gets new technology into the hands of their armed forces the fastest will have the advantage, so we will place Britain at the leading edge of innovation in NATO. We will double investment in autonomous systems in this Parliament, invest more than £1 billion to integrate our armed forces through a new digital targeting web, and finance a £400 million UK defence innovation organisation. To ensure that Britain gains the maximum benefit from what we invent and produce in this country, we will create a new defence exports office in the MOD, driving exports to our allies and driving growth at home.

The SDR sets a new vision and a new framework for defence investment. The work to confirm a new defence investment plan, which will supersede the last Government’s defence equipment plan, will be completed in the autumn. It will ensure that our frontline forces get what they need, when they need it. The plan will be deliverable and affordable, and it will consider infrastructure alongside capabilities. It will seize the opportunities of advanced tech, and seize the opportunities to grow the British economy.

As we lose the national service generation, fewer families across this country will have a direct connection to the armed forces, so we must do more to reconnect the nation with those who defend us. As the SDR recommends, we will increase the number of cadets by 30%, introduce a voluntary “gap year” scheme for school and college leavers, and develop a new strategic reserve by 2030. We must also renew the nation’s contract with those who serve. We have already awarded the biggest pay increase in over 20 years and an inflation-busting increase this year, and now I have announced that we will invest £7 billion of funding during this Parliament for military accommodation, including £1.5 billion of new money for rapid work to deal with the scandal of military family homes.

This SDR is the first defence review in a generation for growth and for transformation in UK defence. It will end the 14 years of the hollowing out of our armed forces. Instead, we will see investment increased, the Navy expanded, the Army grown, the Air Force upgraded, warfighting readiness restored, NATO strengthened, the nuclear deterrent guaranteed, advanced technology developed, and jobs created in every nation and region of this country. The strategic defence review will make Britain safer, more secure at home and stronger abroad.

The statement made by John Healey, the Secretary of State for Defence, on 22 May 2025.

Thank you, Prime Minister.

As the world becomes more dangerous, the Diego Garcia military base becomes more important.

But I want to underline the urgency and uncertainty over the future control of this UK base.

Within weeks, we faced new legal rulings which would weaken the UK’s full operational sovereignty over this base, and within just a few years, this irreplaceable military and intelligence base would become inoperable.

That’s why we have taken action today.

That is why the Prime Minister has signed this treaty today, securing this base for the next 99 years and beyond.

Our allied nations are right behind us and behind this deal – the US, Australia, New Zealand, India, Canada.

Others want to see this base closed. They want to see this deal collapse – China, Russia, Iran.

The value of this deal is beyond doubt.

Full control of Diego Garcia for the next 99 years and beyond.

Full control and protection of the electromagnetic spectrum that priceless intelligence; communications, sensors; radar; a strengthened buffer zone so we can control the seas and the skies immediately around Diego Garcia and wider islands up to 100 miles – an effective veto over any developments or hostile activities.

And with the base in jeopardy, no action was no option, and anyone who would argue to abandon this deal would abandon this base.  So let me be clear, the British people and our British forces are safer today and into the future because of this deal.

Thank you.