Tag: Ministry of Defence

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 22 July 2025.

The UK Carrier Strike Group has led a major British contribution to the large multinational exercise in Australia.

More than 3,000 British forces are taking part in the largest military exercise Australia has ever hosted, as the UK’s Carrier Strike Group (CSG25) demonstrates Britain’s unwavering commitment to Indo-Pacific security.

The Carrier Strike Group is in Australia as part of Operation Highmast, the major global deployment that demonstrates Britain’s strategic commitment to the Indo-Pacific.

From British Gurkhas to US Marines to Australian Defence Force amphibious specialists, Exercise Talisman Sabre 25 serves as one of the deployment’s key moments, bringing together multinational forces to strengthen and test how nations can work together to safeguard global trade routes and maintain regional stability.

Spanning across a vast area in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, and New South Wales, the Australian-US led biennial exercise is bigger than ever, involving over 35,000 military personnel from 19 nations – making Talisman Sabre the largest exercise of the CSG’s deployment and one of the largest military exercises in the world this year. For the first time, offshore activities will also be conducted in Papua New Guinea.

Defence Secretary John Healey said:

The historic bonds between Britain and Australia run deep, and through AUKUS and exercises like Talisman Sabre we are strengthening these ties for the challenges of tomorrow.

Our commitment to the Indo-Pacific is unwavering, as this huge military exercise demonstrates. The unprecedented scale showcases the growing importance of cooperation in addressing shared challenges. We will continue to work alongside our closest allies to maintain the security and stability that underpins global prosperity.

Commodore James Blackmore said:

This is a real demonstration of the UK and our partners’ warfighting capabilities.

As the first UK-led multinational Carrier Strike Group to Talisman Sabre this is a powerful demonstration of our commitment to the Indo-Pacific region.

Exercise Talisman Sabre is also an opportunity for the UK to develop new levels of integration between systems and capabilities with the US, Australia, and other partners, enhancing our interoperability even further and to unprecedented levels.

All three branches of the UK Armed Forces are engaged, with the Royal Marines playing a central role throughout the exercise alongside a Ranger Battalion from the Army and RAF Voyager aircraft.

The exercise strengthens operational cooperation with international partners, ensuring our collective ability to maintain the rules-based international order that underpins global trade and security.

The Royal Navy, alongside its AUKUS partners, is testing cutting-edge sub-sea and seabed warfare capabilities, showcasing interoperability across our navies. Additionally, for the first time, AUKUS nations will demonstrate the ability to remotely control Extra Large Uncrewed Underwater Vehicles (XL-UUVs) from a remote operating centre.

Through DSTL via the Resilience Autonomy and AI Technology collaboration, nations tested autonomy-enabled systems able to find and strike an advancing adversary. This experimentation provided a realistic combat environment for AUKUS to operate as an AI-enabled, integrated force, exploiting cutting-edge technology to ensure strategic advantage against a range of simulated adversaries.

The CSG25 deployment reinforces the government’s Plan for Change by strengthening international partnerships that underpin economic growth and national security, keeping Britain secure at home and strong abroad. Operation Highmast occurs against the backdrop of the government’s landmark commitment to increasing defence spending to 2.6% of GDP.

This historic investment underpins the government’s mission-led approach to securing Britain’s future, providing the economic stability necessary for growth whilst ensuring the UK maintains cutting-edge capabilities such as the Carrier Strike Group to meet emerging global threats.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 17 July 2025.

Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton’s speech at the Global Air & Space Chiefs’ Conference 17 July 2025.

Susannah thank you very much and Dave thank you A – for being here and B – for giving such a great presentation, I am now starting to doubt the fact that I took out the animal videos from last year out of my presentation.

As you heard yesterday this is the last appearance for me as the CAS at the Global Air Space Chiefs Conference and I am going to miss it. This conference provides a fantastic opportunity for us to get to know each other, build relationships, and most importantly to share ideas.

Combined with RIAT and the invitation to our crews, to our industries, and to our spouses, this always feels like a very special event.

You might remember that two years ago I showed this picture of Caitlin and me on holiday in Greece as a mechanism to try and build a rapport or relationship. I got in trouble because I hadn’t cleared it with her before I showed it but I’m doing it again, it’ll be fine.

I wanted to start today by saying a huge thank you to the global air and space chief community for your friendship and support over the two years while I’ve been chief and particularly over the last year.

Some of you know that Caitlin was not at RIAT last year as she underwent a pretty aggressive form of chemotherapy, and that camaraderie and support that I felt from this international community was incredible. It’s those bonds of friendship and understanding that will sustain us both in peacetime and in war.

I am pleased to say that Caitlin is doing well and she’ll be back at RIAT.

And for those of you who are wondering she is still a divorce lawyer. So, if she hands you her business card you should be afraid, if she hands your spouse her business card – be very very afraid!

Two years ago in 2023 when I stood on this stage, the war in Ukraine was just over a year old and my key conclusion was that after 3 decades of peace dividend and fighting impressive counter-terrorism campaigns globally, we – the Royal Air Force and other air forces needed to change if we were going to avoid the kind of war that we saw playing out in Ukraine.

Our response to this demand for change intellectually was to update our air operating concept. At the heart of it is this idea of decision superiority supported by agility, integration, and resilience.

Roll forward a year, last year we focused on deterrence. In whatever way you describe it, warfare is costly, and I argued that our job as military leaders was to stop these wars from starting.

I also explained last year where our priorities lay in terms of developing the capabilities to ensure we could deter the kind of fight we’ve seen in Ukraine.

It started with command and control. Capabilities to counter the A2 AD threat. Integrated area missile and defence and agile combat employment. And taking a leaf out of Dave’s book I also showed you this picture of my good friend Patrick Sanders, shortly after he finished being the head of the British Army at Glastonbury. I’m pleased to say that Patrick has gone past his Glasto phase and is now a successful podcaster and it’s really good, I can really recommend it. But Patrick was in the news again last weekend with a warning that we should head as we think about the pace of change.

As you heard from the Minister, last month the UK published its Strategic Defence Review, a vision about making Britain safer, secure at home, and strong abroad. It played back to us much of the logic and analysis we’ve talked about in conferences like this for several years. As you’ve heard today, it focuses on warfighting readiness, it’s clear about putting NATO first, and using defence as and engine for growth, with UK innovation driven by lessons from Ukraine, and a whole of society response.

This is a radical shift for the UK.

And all of that is before The Hague Summit where many of our allies signed up to spend significantly more on Defence.

This is a watershed moment for the UK and the West.

Throughout my whole career Defence budgets have shrunk, armed forces have got smaller. I was at RAF Cranwell recently talking to our officer cadets about to graduate and coming out into their next phase of training and into the Air Force. I told them that they are entering an air force that none of us have known. An Air Force where budgets are growing, and numbers are increasing.

Last year, I also talked about the high low mix and its importance and autonomous collaborative platforms, and you’ve heard about that from the minister this morning.

I got Jim Beck our Director of Capability, who we saw yesterday, to promise in front of all of you he would deliver this year the first of a family of ACPs that would improve the lethality and survivability of our crewed platforms.

I want to pay tribute to Jim today and the wider team for delivering in April this year StormShroud.

It is an impressive capability that was delivered with a different attitude towards risk both in terms of its acquisition and in the terms of the way it’s operated.  It also delivered through collaboration with warfighters, traditional defence industry, and new entrants to it.

I am enormously proud of what Jim, the team and the wider team have done to deliver it, and I am enormously pleased that what SDR sets out is a direction of travel that we have been on as air forces for several years.

But the SDR is clear, and I’m clear that we have to do this quickly, and we can’t do it on our own.

To borrow a phrase from my great friend Jabba Steur the Dutch chief, we need to be ready to fight tonight, tomorrow, and together.

These alliances, that these conferences help build are incredibly important to us, and frankly the alliance with the United States of America is the most important of all.

Arthur Tedder and Tooey Spatz, the first Chief of Staff for the US Air Force, forged a relationship during the second world war that sustained them through peace. Today the relationships we form in peacetime need to sustain us through war.

This year has seen many of us in this room flying alongside our US friends and fighting alongside them globally.

But is not just about working together as allies, this evolving battlespace demands that we work together across all 5 domains, and that’s why that is the theme of this conference how do we integrate air and space power into this evolving battlespace.

I want to use 3 stories from the past, present and future to illustrate why this is important and what lessons we might draw about how we do it.

Now looking round the room, I think quite a lot of us in the room remember the early days in our career the end of the Cold War.

Every self-respecting junior officer would have read Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising.

In it, NATO face the task of repelling Russian aggression from Eastern Europe through or by, as Tom said,

‘…penetrating the most concentrated SAM belt the world had ever known.’

In Tom Clancy’s day that was a job for Air Forces it required large packages of aircraft, it was what our flag exercises, Red Flag, Green Flag, Maple Flag, were all about. Honing our Large Force Employment skills – we relished the opportunity; we loved flying and fighting alongside the very best from other nations.

I’m sure just the mention of it evokes warm memories at the time when it was the air force that we knew and loved, when we had more hair, slimmer waists, and we didn’t groan when we got out of chairs.

This was air power’s World Cup. I was also going to say this was, for our American audience, it’s like the World Series, but I found out that Donald Trump seems to recognise Soccer is the more important game, and if you’re going to have a world event you do have to invite people from other countries to it, just saying. Sorry Dave!

This was a complex mission and attrition was expected. In Tom Clancy’s novel, more than a dozen of the most technologically advanced aircraft the West had were lost on that first mission. In the 1980s we had the mass to cope with that kind of level of attrition. Today, we know that this is going to require more than just brilliant air forces. Even the most ardent advocate of air power, Dave Deptula agrees.

In Tom Clancy’s time, other terrestrial domains lacked the tools to be able to really influence this fight. Space and cyber weren’t even nascent capabilities.

Today, not only is it feasible to integrate effects across multi domains, it is essential. And this is hard, it’s hard to do it on a national level, trying to do it multi-nationally, across a continent is exponentially more difficult but it is the challenge of our generation, and our adversaries know that and they’re trying to emulate us. Fortunately, however they are showing us how not to do it.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, it looked like integrated multi-domain operations. With two combined armies, supported by strategic fires, tactical and strategic air power provided by VKS, land launched, sea launched, air launched cruise missile, electronic warfare, and critical space and cyber effects, surely that was integrated?

But the reality is Russia’s sees air power differently to the west, in the western way of warfare, air power is at the heart of the way we fight. In Russia it’s about supporting the land campaign, and we know as Justin Bronkin and Dag Henrikson have pointed out that Russia has always struggled to integrate air power emissions to deliver strategic effect. So in those first few hours and days after the war started, what we saw was Russia’s actions were stove pipped, they were deconflicted in time and space and fratricide both electronically and kinetically was commonplace. But three years and a million causalities later, Russia is learning. And we have to learn too, as General Patton said,

Our job as air chiefs is to educate our aviators and our commander so that we are ready for the next Storm Rising. There’s no way I could write it.

I’ve stood on this stage and said, that we should not image that Ukraine is the way in which we would fight in the future. Ukraine is a 19th Century war, fought with 20th Century tactics and 21st Century weapons.

What we need to do is fight 21st Century war, with 21st Century capabilities, and 21st Century thinking.

2025 has given for us some examples of how this air led innovation and integration can make a difference. We’ve heard about Ukraine’s audacious attack against Russia’s strategic assets and operations in Iran have really shown us what exquisite air power integrated with other multi-domain effects can do at both the strategic and campaign level.

But when the war starts, we know that it’s going to be a dynamic environment, and so whilst the tactics and the targets might be the same as they were in Tom Clancy’s day, the threat has changed, and the tactics need to change too.

There’s breadth, scale, depth coupled with three years of operational experience mean the threat is much greater than it was in Tom Clancy’s time. And so the tactics need to change, and we need an integrated approach.

We need space, cyber, land, sea, and air to work together.

We know space will deliver PNT, we know it will deliver ISR, we know it will deliver battle damage assessment, but it can also be used to disrupt our adversaries’ communications. We can shield our own forces from their satellites.

Cyber can disrupt and degrade C2 systems.

The maritime environment might deliver fires or air defence.

The land domain might launch Stromshroud, project special forces or launch attacks against key targets.

We get this right; we create control of the air. We might be limited in time and geography, but it opens up the opportunity for our forces to target and exploit other opportunities.

But no plan survives contact with the enemy and we need a mechanism to adapt and react, to ensure that we’re able to exploit opportunities and make the right decisions at the right time in this complex environment.

In the UK we’ve developed NEXUS, it’s our combat cloud and it will form part of the digital targeting web the minister talked about this morning and it’s through that that we’ll deliver the tempo and deliver that all domain C2. But C2 is about more than the network, it’s about our commanders, our decision making and our training. We’ve got challenge in NATO in particular, how do we command and control in a dynamic environment, multi-domain operations when we’re structured by component and organised by components or geography.

NATO’s land component commander argues that it’s the Army’s task, the Army should, alone deal with the counter A2 AD threat in Kaliningrad. He might be right in that specific environment, but it’s not proven or tested. It would be like me saying that actually it’s air power that should be the soul force that blunts Russian attacks into NATO territory. We need to lift ourselves out of these historic rivalries and reductive arguments and think about how we deliver truly integrated multi-domain effects.

How do we set the board at risk in the way Dave said yesterday to make sure we are ready for the next Storm Rising.

We can learn lessons from other campaigns and operations and the next panel will talk about some of those. But I think we need to test, to train, and to educate our people.

In the real world, exercises like Bamboo Eagle provide high-end, multi-domain, multinational and long-range exercises where we can test ourselves against these kinds of scenarios. Red Flag has always been the pinnacle air exercise, in this case Red Flag was just the starter to the main course which was exercise Bamboo Eagle.

175 aircraft from Canada, the UK, Australia, and the US. In an operation that ranged right across the indo-pacific. But we don’t just need to rely on the real world anymore, the synthetic environment provides us with opportunities to test and train in ways we’ve not been able to before.

In the UK, we’ve developed Gladiator, a synthetic, multi-domain environment that connects national and international components so they can mission rehearse the most complex of multi-domain operations that we are unable to imagine.

Earlier last year, in Exercise Cobra Warrior, the weather meant that we were unable to conduct some of the flying that we intended, quite a common thing in the UK.

What we did was, we flew the mission in Gladiator. The full COMAO flew real-time, and then the combined synthetic and real picture that came from that was fed into the was fed into the ops centre which allowed our C2 and ISR teams to test themselves as though it had been for real.

We can no longer wait to find out what we know and adapt when the war starts.

For those, like Dave and Shawn Harris who have walked the corridors of the USAF’s School of Advanced Air and Space Power Studies, they’ll see this quote.

We need to provide those opportunities for our people, so that they are ready for the next Storm Rising.

The Americans have shown the way with Bamboo Eagle and the phenomenal capability off the coast of California, but I think we need something like this in Europe too.

Somewhere where we can bring our Armies, Navies, and Air Forces together. Where we can test the land component commander’s assertion that he can alone address the counter A2 AD task in Kaliningrad. Where we can find out how do we command and control multi-domain effects in NATO when we’re organised by components.

We have talked and sat around the NATO Air Chiefs table about creating some airspace we can turn on and off over the North Sea. But for our agencies and our airlines it’s all a bit too difficult.

Now to be fair, North Sea might not be the right place. Our friends in Sweden and Finland have got a lot of space and are keen to help. What I would like to do is to see our European and NATO forces pool our resources and create that capacity and capability here in Europe.

So let me sum up.

We have to be ready for this next Storm Rising.

We know it is going to be harder than it was in Tom Clancy’s day.

Fighting a bespoke, exquisite air campaign that’s not integrated into this evolving battlespace will lead to campaign failure.

What we need is genuinely integrated multi-domain effects, at this operational and strategic level not just at the tactical level where we know that we excel. How we do that is through thinking and practice. We can do some of that in synthetic environment and that also allows us an opportunity to exploit some of those tools that Keith and others talked about yesterday. But we need to do it in the real world too, so we can identify the frictions and fix them.

I’ll be honest, I don’t know the answer to this NATO conundrum about command and control and how we do that command and control integrated action and deliver multi-domain effects when we’re organised by component. But the answer to it starts with thinking and practice, and it’s through that we will be able to deter, to fight and to win – tonight, tomorrow and together.

Thank you very much.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 16 July 2025.

Scottish Secretary and Minister for Defence Procurement & Industry visit HMNB Clyde to launch the multi-decade, multi-billion pound Clyde 2070 programme.

The UK’s security and economic growth in Scotland are top of the agenda as the Scotland Office and Ministry of Defence meet today with naval base chiefs and local authority leaders to discuss maximising the benefits from future-proofing HMNB Clyde.

Home to the Royal Navy Submarine Service and the UK’s nuclear deterrent, the base is Scotland’s largest military establishment and second biggest employment site with over 6,500 military and civilian personnel.

The Ministers will meet navy chiefs and tour key facilities and receive briefing on how the £250 million will support upgrades to infrastructure and the working environment, ensuring the site is ready to accommodate next-generation nuclear submarines including the Dreadnought-class (which will carry the nuclear deterrent) and SSN-AUKUS (the Royal Navy’s future attack class that will replace the Astute-class fleet).

The Ministers, navy chiefs and base staff will then meet with council leaders and local MPs from areas surrounding the Clyde to discuss how Clyde 2070’s defence dividend can be maximised by local communities for years to come. They will explore opportunities for effective coordination between government, local authorities and the defence sector, focusing on infrastructure development, skills training, regional economic opportunities and local job creation.

Approximately 26,100 skilled jobs – including shipbuilding – across Scotland are already supported by the Ministry of Defence’s annual multi-billion pound spend and the UK Government’s Brand Scotland campaign is working to build on that success and help the sector export its world-class technology internationally.

Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said:

This defence dividend for Scotland will help ensure Britain’s security, deter our adversaries and drive economic growth in the area for years to come as part of our Plan for Change.

With Faslane home to the nation’s first and final line of defence – the UK’s nuclear deterrent, it’s only right that Clyde 2070 represents one of the most significant UK Government investments over the coming decades. It will ensure the Royal Navy can deliver the Continuous At Sea Deterrent from a modern, efficient base which will result in a better environment for our hero submariners to live, work and train in.

Crucially it will also create skilled jobs – including for small and medium size firms – boost the economy and help tackle the critical skills gaps facing the country in sectors such as nuclear, construction, maritime and project management, by bringing together government, Scottish communities, industry, supply chains and academia to address the challenges. The Defence Nuclear Enterprise already supports a supply chain of over 3,000 businesses across the UK, benefiting regions like the West of Scotland, and I urge the Scottish Government to work with us on maximising these clear benefits.

Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) is a partnership of organisations that operate, maintain, renew and sustain the UK’s nuclear deterrent as part of a national endeavour which supports more than 48,000 jobs across the country – set to rise to 65,000 in the next decade.

Minister for Defence Procurement & Industry Maria Eagle said:

Our nuclear deterrent is the bedrock of the UK’s defence and the cornerstone of our commitment to NATO and global security and Scotland plays a crucial role in that. We are today re-affirming that unshakeable commitment by launching this multi-billion-pound investment to His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde, which is vital to our deterrence capability.

The initial £250 million of funding over 3 years will support jobs, skills and growth across the West of Scotland. This Government will keep the UK safe for generations to come while delivering on the Plan for Change and making defence an engine for growth.

Leader of Argyll and Bute Council Jim Lynch said:

Close coordination with local councils and particularly Argyll and Bute is vital to maximise the potential economic benefits and to manage local infrastructure and skills issues as HMNB Clyde develops. I welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues with the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Minister for Defence Procurement & Industry.

The vital role of HMNB Clyde in the UK’s national security strategy was underscored in the recent Strategic Defence Review – launched by the Prime Minister at BAE Systems Govan shipyard in Scotland – with a commitment to construct up to 12 new nuclear-powered attack subs, building on the £15 billion investment set out for the UK’s sovereign nuclear warhead programme.

It follows the UK Government’s historic uplift in defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by April 2027, and the ambition to hit 3% in the next parliament, when economic and fiscal conditions allow. The Chancellor’s Spring Statement pledged a new era of security and national renewal, including a £2.2 billion increase in the UK-wide defence budget for 2025-26, on top of £2.9 billion announced at Autumn Budget.

This investment reflects the government’s commitment to national defence while bringing economic, skills, and employment benefits to Scotland.

For over 50 years the site has operated and maintained the deterrent fleet – first with the Resolution Class of submarines and then the current Vanguard Class boats. During that time there has always been at least one nuclear-armed deterrent submarine on patrol at sea, providing the ultimate guarantee of our safety and security and of our NATO Allies.

As a multi-generational effort, the renewal of the nuclear deterrent requires long-term direction so that the MoD and industry can manage risk and improve performance and value for money over time and £250m has been allocated immediately for the next three years. This investment will be focussed on three main areas:

· Early site enabling activity and master planning.

· Development and approval for the first major programmes.

· Working with industry to design an organisation and structure capable of delivering transformation at scale and pace for decades to come.

The programme includes the need to meet defence net-zero targets and long-term climate change mitigation.

Last week recommendations were unveiled by the Defence and Economic Growth Taskforce to build upon the 272,000 UK industry jobs (11,800 in Scotland) directly and indirectly supported by government investment in the defence sector. When combining jobs supported in industry with MoD civilians and UK Regular Armed Forces personnel based in the UK, the figure is 463,000 (26,100 in Scotland).

The UK Government has already begun work on three of the report’s recommendations:

·  Establishing a defence SME Hub to provide support to new market entrants.

·  Commencing work on a Defence Exports Office in the MoD, as announced in the Strategic Defence Review.

·  Committing to developing Defence Growth Deals across the UK at the Spending Review.

Further information

The Ministers will meet Vice Admiral Sir Martin Connell, Second Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, Major General Mark Totten, Royal Marines, Director Naval Staff and Commander Jenna Kelway, Royal Navy, Military Assistant to Second Sea Lord, Commodore Sharon Malkin, ADC Royal Navy, Naval Base Commander Clyde, Brigadier Andy Muddiman, Royal Marines, Naval Regional Commander Scotland and Northern Ireland and Andy Tims, Senior Responsible Officer, Clyde Capital Programme, Lynton Simmonds, Site Managing Director (Clyde) Babcock, Hamish Tetlow, Naval Base Commander, Chief of Staff.

They will also meet Argyll and Bute Council leader Jim Lynch and executive director Douglas Hendry,  Inverclyde Council leader Stephen McCabe and chief executive Stuart Jamieson, West Dunbartonshire council leader Martin Rooney and chief executive Peter Hessett. Local MPs Martin McCluskey, MP for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West, and Alison Taylor, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, will also attend the discussion.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 16 July 2025.

Air Marshal Harv Smyth will succeed Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton in August 2025.

The Defence Secretary John Healey has confirmed that His Majesty The King has approved the appointment of the new Chief of the Air Staff.

Air Marshal Harv Smyth will succeed Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton in August 2025. He joined the RAF in 1991 as a direct entrant and then spent 15 years as a frontline Harrier pilot and weapons instructor having flown hundreds of operational missions over Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since his promotion to Air Commodore in 2015, Air Marshal Smyth has held a range of command positions and is currently the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff for Military Strategy and Operations.

The appointment comes at a transformative time for the RAF as it moves to warfighting readiness following the publication of the Strategic Defence Review, including the recent announcement that the UK will purchase 12 F-35A fighter jets and join NATO’s nuclear mission as the government delivers greater security for working people through its Plan for Change.

The Chief of the Air Staff is responsible for the strategic planning and delivery of all Royal Air Force operations, people and capability. The position is accountable to the Secretary of State for Defence for the fighting effectiveness, efficiency and morale as well as the development and sustainment of the RAF.

Defence Secretary John Healey MP, said:

I warmly congratulate Air Marshal Harv Smyth on his appointment as Chief of the Air Staff. He has outstanding credentials to lead the RAF in a crucial period of transformation for the force.

Air Marshal Smyth has led a distinguished career to date. From spending 15 years as a frontline Harrier pilot and weapons instructor, to flying hundreds of operational missions from both land bases and aircraft carriers, to holding numerous vital command positions, he has served our nation loyally.

I would also like to recognise Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton’s superb leadership of the RAF over the last two years. I know he and Air Marshal Smyth will work together to deliver a landmark shift in our deterrence and defence.

The RAF is always globally deployed and ready to defend the nation. RAF pilots and aircrew are currently deployed on Operation SHADER to combat Daesh terrorists in Iraq and Syria, in Qatar as part of our joint Typhoon squadron, and in Eastern Europe as part of the NATO Enhanced Air Policing mission to deter Russia.

Incoming Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton, said:

I am absolutely delighted that Air Marshal Harv Smyth has been selected as the next Chief of the Air Staff, and I have every confidence that he will lead the Royal Air Force brilliantly and make sure we are ready to fly and fight.

As I hand over to Air Marshal Smyth, I know that under his command the Royal Air Force will go from strength to strength to ensure that we are always ready to protect and promote our national interests on the world stage. I wish him every success and look forward to working with him in leadership of our Armed Forces.

This announcement comes following Sir Rich Knighton’s promotion to Chief of the Defence Staff, a role he will take up in September.

Air Marshal Harv Smyth, said:

I am deeply honoured to have been selected as the next Chief of the Air Staff at such an important time for the Royal Air Force. The Strategic Defence Review makes clear the need for us to rapidly evolve and modernise to meet current and future threats and I am enormously proud to lead the Service at such a crucial point in our history.

I take over from Sir Rich Knighton, who has achieved so much over the past two years, preparing the Royal Air Force for the challenges that we currently face and developing the operational mindset that we need, should we transition to conflict. I share in his unwavering support for our people and am delighted to have this opportunity to lead our Whole Force as we deliver outstanding Air and Space Power for the UK and NATO.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 2 July 2025.

Following a full investigation, Admiral Sir Ben Key’s behaviour has been found to have fallen far short of values and standards expected of Service Personnel.

This has resulted in termination of service and his commission.

Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said:

We expect the highest standards of behaviour from our Service Personnel and our Civil Servants.

We investigate all allegations of inappropriate behaviour and will take robust action against anyone found to have fallen short of our standards, regardless of their seniority.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 1 July 2025.

Innovative technology will reach the hands of military personnel faster, as the work of the new UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) organisation kicks off today with its formal establishment.

• UK Defence Innovation begins work today to streamline delivery of innovative technology to Armed Forces personnel.
• £400 million annual budget will help create high-skilled jobs in the dual-use technology sector and turbocharge growth, as part of the government’s Plan for Change.
• UK Strategic Command will be renamed Cyber & Specialist Operations Command to reflect its evolved role and enhanced responsibilities following the SDR.

UKDI will be the focal point for innovation within the Ministry of Defence, backed by a ringfenced annual budget of at least £400 million – supporting the government’s Plan for Change by driving defence as an engine for UK growth and creating high-skilled jobs in the dual-use technology sector.

It follows the government committing to the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War – hitting 2.6% by 2027, with an ambition to reach 3% in the next Parliament.

The new body will simplify and streamline the innovation system within MOD – as outlined in last month’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR). It will take a new approach by moving quickly and decisively, using different ways of contracting, to enable UK companies to scale up innovative prototypes rapidly, by setting out a clear pathway, working with the rest of government, from initial production to manufacturing at scale.

UKDI will make the UK a defence innovation leader, funding and supporting firms of all sizes to take state-of-the-art technology from the drawing board to the production line, and into the hands of our Armed Forces. It will ensure cutting-edge innovations get into the hands of our Armed Forces faster, enhancing military capability while driving economic growth.

This announcement comes alongside another significant development, with UK Strategic Command being renamed as the Cyber & Specialist Operations Command (CSOC) from 1 September 2025. This change reflects the Command’s evolved role and enhanced responsibilities following the SDR, particularly its leadership of the cyber domain, which the SDR demanded a greater focus on across defence and government as a whole. It also follows the MOD having to protect UK military networks against more than 90,000 ‘sub-threshold’ attacks in the last two years.

Defence Secretary, John Healey MP said:

Defence is only as strong as the industry that stands behind it and through UKDI we’re putting innovation at the heart of our approach.

This shift represents a crucial part of our commitment to change defence, backing the high-growth UK firms developing pioneering technology of the future to boost our national security and make defence an engine for growth – fundamental to our Plan for Change and delivering on the SDR.

The new name firmly places leadership of this crucial domain for defence and the Armed Forces with the new Command. It also better represents CSOC’s ‘Lead Command’ responsibilities for those specialist capabilities critical to operational success, including Intelligence, Special Forces, deployed medical capabilities, and Command and Control through the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ).

General Sir Jim Hockenhull, Commander, UK Strategic Command – soon to be Cyber & Specialist Operations Command, said:

The transition to Cyber & Specialist Operations Command is far more than a change in name – it is a clear statement of purpose. It reflects our leadership in the cyber domain, the integration of specialist capabilities, and our commitment to delivering effects across Defence. This new identity captures the essence of who we are: a community of experts, united by mission, operating at the forefront of modern warfare.

The defence sector is a major contributor to the UK economy, with the industry supporting over 430,000 jobs nationwide – equivalent to one in every 60 UK jobs.

As part of UKDI’s launch, two key initiatives have been established:

• A new Rapid Innovation Team (RIT) enabling innovation at ‘wartime pace’ by utilising commercially available dual-use technology to address the most urgent operational problems.
• Regional Engagement Teams across the UK to identify and support dual-use innovation from SMEs and academic spin-outs, delivering targeted outreach and business development support.

The SDR highlighted the rapidly evolving threat landscape and the critical need for the UK to maintain its technological edge. UKDI will play a pivotal role in implementing the SDR’s recommendations by breaking down barriers between defence and commercial innovation, ensuring that game-changing technologies can be rapidly identified, developed, and deployed to the front line.

The organisation has been formally established today and will develop over the next 12 months, with further design, transition and implementation work, while determining the optimal workforce structure needed to achieve its long-term ambitions. UKDI will be fully operational by July 2026.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 19 June 2025.

Thousands of high-skilled jobs and hundreds of apprenticeships have been created to help keep the United Kingdom protected around the clock, with newly published figures highlighting the economic benefits of the defence nuclear industry.

• New figures reveal that 1,500 skilled roles have been created in the last year at the UK’s nuclear weapons technology centre AWE.
• Government study shows that people working in defence nuclear industry receive 20% above average UK salary.
• Defence Secretary visits top secret site as £15 billion investment in sovereign UK nuclear warhead supports the Plan for Change with nearly 10,000 jobs across the UK.

It comes as the government’s delivers a landmark £15 billion investment in this parliament into the renewal of the UK’s sovereign nuclear warhead – confirmed through the recent Strategic Defence Review – to keep the British people safe while supporting almost 10,000 UK jobs.

The figures from government analysis published today also show that average salaries in the defence nuclear industry reach £45,500 – 20% higher than the UK average.

Over the last year, 1,500 new skilled staff, and double the number of apprentices and graduates, have joined AWE in Aldermaston, Berkshire – the UK’s nuclear weapons technology centre – all vital to the success of the nuclear deterrent by playing a critical role in the development and maintenance of the nuclear warhead stockpile.

It comes as John Healey was the first Defence Secretary to visit AWE since 2018, and he hailed the economic growth impact for the local area, as AWE celebrates its 75th anniversary.

The AWE workforce of 9,500 staff, including 3,000 engineers and 1,500 scientists, demonstrates the defence nuclear sector as an engine for economic growth, backing the government’s Plan for Change. This milestone year reflects AWE’s crucial contribution to the UK’s independent nuclear deterrent – keeping a nuclear-armed submarine at sea continuously – ensuring the security of the nation and our NATO allies around the clock.

Defence Secretary, John Healey MP said:

The nuclear weapons technology delivered at AWE keeps us all safe every minute of the day. The skilled men and women working here play a fundamental role in deterring global conflict and that cannot be underestimated.

However, our nuclear deterrent doesn’t just protect us, it also powers prosperity. From the design and development of the warhead in Aldermaston, to shipbuilding in Barrow and maintenance in Plymouth, to deployment for operations from Clyde, defence is an engine for growth. The Defence Nuclear Enterprise delivers on the Plan for Change by backing thousands of jobs across the country.

Through the Strategic Defence Review we are unshakeable in our commitment to maintaining our nuclear deterrent – it is the ultimate guarantor of our national security and the security of our NATO allies.

AWE is part of the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) – the partnership of organisations that operate, maintain, renew and sustain the UK’s nuclear deterrent as part of a national endeavour which supports more than 48,000 jobs across the country – set to rise to 65,000 in the next decade.

Through the Nuclear Skills Plan, nearly 4,000 early career starters are projected to have entered the wider nuclear sector over the last year, with the total number of graduate and apprenticeship roles in the sector aiming to double over the next 10 years.

During his visit, the Defence Secretary met with staff, scientists and apprentices to acknowledge the establishment’s legacy, celebrate current achievements, and highlight the importance of investing in future talent. AWE welcomed nearly 500 graduates, apprentices and placement students in 2024/25 – double the previous year – many of them from local communities.

The defence nuclear industry wage premium also brings prosperity to some of the most economically disadvantaged communities in the UK, with over half of those employed in the defence nuclear industry living in areas targeted for economic regeneration.

The visit comes after the SDR and Spending Review provided the commitment and funding for the UK to produce a new submarine every 18 months in future years. It follows the commitment to grow the UK’s attack submarine fleet to up to 12 under the AUKUS partnership.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 17 June 2025.

The Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Roly Walker’s speech at the RUSI Land Warfare Conference.

Good afternoon.

We are 54 nations, and 17 Army Chiefs taking part in this conference: that’s the power of shared missions and interests. Welcome, and thanks for coming.

I concluded this event last year by reflecting on the grim strategic situation.

Amongst other things:

Russia had seemingly abandoned the principle of mutual co-existence with us here in Europe, and so we needed to prepare accordingly.

I also said that we needed to see a fundamental shift in how we fight on and from the land.

And that this transformation, importantly, would need to be matched by an equally transformative relationship with our defence industrial base.

I offered a vision of how 5th Gen land forces could set the joint force up for the unfair fight.

And I shared an ambition to double then triple the fighting power of our land forces, by 2027 and 2030 respectively.

A year on, I think those reflections have been validated, not least by the Government’s SDR.

Today I want to open the event with three reports: what the SDR means to us; a ‘we said – we’ve done’ look at the last 12 months; and a ‘what next – what more’ for the year ahead.

To the SDR, whose analysis and recommendations I fully support.

For me it’s a story of reversal and change, as well as massive collective opportunity.

So, the reversal is really of a trajectory in defence policy that characterised the second era of NATO, that ‘peace dividend’ period that followed the Cold War. That trajectory is now shifting, definitively, as a matter of policy.

And being in the third era of NATO, we are now in the business of focusing our preparedness and resolve to fight war at scale and over time.

For me, as Army Chief, that means generating the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps as one of NATO’s two strategic reserve forces, in both mission and taskorg. That is why last year I put the British Army’s specialist enabling brigades under Com ARRC’s command last year, and why he now has tactical command of both the 1st and 3rd UK divisions. The Corps-level of fighting is also the focus for accelerated modernisation, alongside hardening the edge at every echelon within.

Secondly, rebuilding a national arsenal, an ‘always on’ system of production that innovates in peacetime and scales in wartime. More of that in a minute.

And thirdly it means strengthening our ties with society – it takes a country to fight and win a war – which we will do through the Standing Joint Command headquartered in Aldershot, the traditional home of the British Army, to enhance resilience, prepare to regenerate force, and help defend the homeland. It takes a country to fight a war, after all.

The change comes in the way we fight, as signalled in the SDR, as an increasingly integrated force.

The case for integrating greater autonomy and more robotics into our fighting system is well understood, but to unlock the extraordinary power they offer, we have to digitise our system deeper and wider than we’re doing at the moment, which is why I could not be more pleased to see in the SDR the commitment of at least £1Bn for a Digital Targeting Web. We will soon get the data, the all-important commodity, moving horizontally not just vertically, at light speed, with a precision focus on the defeat mechanisms to an adversary’s fighting system, from top to bottom, from back to front, from the fundamentals of how they build that fighting system, to the frontlines where they might use it. To me, it’s an approach of corrosion and erosion from within, not just explosion from without.

And finally, to the big opportunity, let me explain my vision for how fighting power and market power come together, with a model we call Growth Through Transformation, it’s a pitch not a plan, to make this real, from the foxhole to the factory floor.

For the sake of argument let’s say the square on the screen represents a pair of attack helicopters, or a pair of tanks, or a pair of self-propelled howitzers. Today nearly 100% the British Army’s lethality – our ability to project destructive force over an adversary, while protecting ourselves from attack, and doing this sustainably so n+1 works for us (ie they run out before we do)– comes from these highly sophisticated crewed platforms, and nearly 100% of our equipment budget goes on sustaining those platforms we have and acquiring new ones.

In themselves, they sustain a decent and traditional defence industrial sector, and given where we are with CR3, Boxer and AJAX, is building resilience as well as growing it. It could be more, given the total addressable market for modernising AFVs around the world is judged to be $43Bn over 10years. That’s opportunity we need to position ourselves for.

But…if those are the only platforms we fight from the land with, no matter the wizardry of our digital targeting web, I reckon we lose. Or at the very least, it won’t be an unfair fight we’re after.

That’s because T hey take months to produce and years to train competent crews for. They’re also increasingly on the wrong side of the cost curve when it comes to price per kill. A £20M tank and four experienced crew members lost to a £1k drone operated by kid with only a few days training – who probably isn’t even on the same map sheet as the tank.

Let me be abundantly clear though, we are going to need survivable and lethal platforms for as long as land forces need to seize and hold terrain, which means boots on the ground to close with and kill the enemy, if it comes to it. We wouldn’t put troops there without a rifle, radio, body armour and helmet, so why would we put their vehicles there without guns, armour plating and comms?

What we do need is to layer around them a series of attritable platforms, from which more sensors sense at greater distances, and more munitions are launched. They fly, float and drive, and are the new source of combat mass. You don’t want to lose them, but it’s not a tragedy if you do because, although sophisticated, they’re uncrewed.

And around them is a third layer of consumable systems. These are your even cheaper single-use platforms, like one-way effectors. When they’re gone, they’re gone.

And that’s how we are multiplying our fighting power, with a three-ring source of lethality.

The challenge for the team her is that in the future I want 20% of our lethality to come from the survivable layer, 40% from the attritable, and 40% from consumable. That does not mean I want 1/5th the number of crewed platforms in the PoR, it’s that I want each one to be five times more lethal, survivable and sustainable. Because that’s how we’ll meet NATO’s land capability targets, as well as service our part in the regional plans.

And I want to spend 50% of our money on the 20% of crewed and expensive, and 50% on the remaining 80% of attritable. Why the maths?

An example. We could double the fighting power of that AH mission from 16 stowed kills from 16km standoff to 32 kills from the same distance, by buying two more attack helicopters and making it a four-ship mission. Or, for the same amount of money the two new AH cost us, we could layer attritable mule drones and consumable OWE to make that over 200 kills from over 50kms standoff. That starts to look a lot more lethal than 2x or 3x, is more survivable, and on the right side of the cost curve.

I want to test this hypothesis with a prototype on Ex STDE27, and I’m really excited that we’re close to going to market to make this happen, and to make a market in Land ACP.

Because here’s the strategic bit…to do this, we need to grow a completely new sector in our Defence Industrial Ecosystem. Bringing that hi/lo mix of crewed and uncrewed systems into being will, we think, as a minimum, create thousands of new highly specialised jobs in software, AI and advanced robotics.

A lot of this is dual-use: military and civilian. Which attracts private investment because it scales. So this is not just about the 2.6% of GDP the Government has announced for UK Defence, but about making Defence a great place for venture capital and private equity to invest in.

It allows us to access a total addressable market in drones of around £70Bn/10 for drones and £28Bn/10 for OWEs. That is pretty eye watering compared to the traditional system.

And this is as much a system of production and stockpiles as it is developing skills and talent in society.

This is how the necessary transformation in how we fight…becomes a virtue: an energised national arsenal stimulating economic growth, and direct benefit into society writ large.

So, to the double!

I described our soldiers as our competitive advantage: our point of difference. They are ingeniously creative and astonishingly resilient.

They are enabling Techcraft at every level – the fusion of fieldcraft and technology – every day. “Give us the tools and we will finish the job” was Churchill’s shout, and it still applies today our soldiers today.

Project Asgard is delivering. Not just our pathfinder to show we can find, fund, and fight transformative capabilities differently, better, cheaper, and faster. It’s a project that is flipping our Forward Land Forces in Estonia from a strategic tripwire into an invasion stopping capability. When Russian soldiers eventually return to barracks across the River Narva, they’re going to find the same lethal recce-strike systems there, which gave them such a mauling in the Donbas.

Last July we talked about it…in August we decided to do it…the Defence Secretary announced it in October…January saw partners on contract working alongside us…in May we exercised it in Estonia…and next month our first public expo here in the UK.

It’s a project that, through AI-fuelled, software defined, and network enabled capabilities we are confident has made 4 Light Brigade capable of acting 10 times faster and 10 times further than it could last year.

It’s a project that fields the first NATO FLF equipped with one way effectors, capable of striking targets over 250km away, or from 250km stand-off.

It’s a project that’s involved 20 industry partners, has already created 200 skilled jobs, and sees Allies looking to those same partners to build their own systems.

It’s effects were integrated into the Estonian Ex GRIFFIN LIGHTNING, enabling the ESTDIV to find and strike deeper than ever, with much greater precision and at a higher kill rate, though I admit in a simulated exercise.

So we’ve proved it, to a point with an MVP, now we start scaling to the Corps level, and we’ll continue to share our knowledge with our allies.

But it’s not just about Asgard.

A better trained force will often defeat a bigger and better equipped one. A lesson Goliath learned from David. Our new Land Training System is preparing us to do just that.

In the last 3 months alone, 72 fighting sub-units have gone through a new intensive 10 week ‘combat training at echelon’ programme. Over the next 12 months, 400 sub-units or around 90% of the Army will complete that training, an 80% increase compared to 2020.

We’ve trained over 3,000 drone pilots, with another 6,000 over the next year, as well as providing 200 simulators into unit lines.

That system has improved battlegroup performance against KPIs by 30% this year, reducing sensor to shooter time by 33% already.

That system has validated both of our divisions and seven brigades for their NATO combat tasks this year – which is an unprecedented state of readiness as judged by our peers.

And we’re making good strides with equipment too, although there is always room for improvement.

We’ve fielded 121 AJAX vehicles this year, expanding to 356 next year.

We’ve begun to field Boxer this year, with 113 next.

We’ve launched a joint c-UAS project with the US called Project VANAHEIM, involving 20 industry partners, on mission in Germany now developing the system.

We’ve begun recapitalising our MLRS, with first variants in service next year, doubling our range from 80 to 160km.

We’ve fielded 28,000 new SA80 assault rifles and 3,000 world-leading night vision goggles this year.

With edge processing we’ve integrated AI into existing equipment such as our Bowman radios, reducing packet size and prioritising the flow of data for targeting purposes, and that has seen faster decision cycles, increasing by an order of magnitude our lethality.

Our Corps HQ, on Project Convergence, with its industry partners embedded, combined three different software applications on a secret comms bearer creating a digital kill chain that made the Corps four times quicker at engaging individual targets, down from 16 mins to 4 mins for a fire mission.

The effect over multiple missions was even greater. The software-centric solutions reduced the Corps HQ’s cognitive load between missions enabling them to kill 10 times as many targets in a day.

That is why I welcome the SDR’s ambition to 10X our fighting power by 2035 – because with the right people, software, training, and technology it’s possible to do it.

So, I believe we’re on track…for now…to doubling our fighting power by 2027. The results are encouraging though I absolutelyacknowledge not all soldiers in all formations are experiencing this transformation yet.

Looking ahead, my main effort is to accelerate modernisation, prioritising the Corps and those closest to the fight, our Forward Land Forces.

I want to deepen our integration with SMEs through Taskforce RAPSTONE, with a clearer front door, simplifying our requirements into shared problems to solve. In short, we’ll be a better customer, standing shoulder-to-shoulder as genuine mission partners, in perpetual prototyping mode.

But finally and most importantly my focus this year is also on our people.

It’s absolutely pointless transforming if we don’t have enough of the right people, create the right environment for them to thrive, nor teach them the right skills. This is not just about recruiting and TEAMWORK, important though they are.

At a fundamental level, we are rethinking what it means to be a soldier in the 21st century, because 21st century soldiering is going to be different in so many ways. At the heart lies the need for strong ethical and moral values to withstand the pressures of combat, and we have a role to project that narrative deeper and wider into society, including our youth, whether through the cadets or educational pathways, or by the example of our service, not least to help protect them and ourselves from the toxic influences of racism, hate, homophobia, and misogyny, which are the antithesis of what we need in our soldiers and citizens.

I’m reminded of Monty’s memoirs where he said I shall take away many impressions into the evening of life. But the one I shall treasure above all is the picture of the British soldier – staunch and tenacious in adversity, kind and gentle in victory – the figure to whom the nation has again and again, in the hour of adversity, owed its safety and its honour.

That’s who we need and that’s who we want – the British soldier as the unrivalled force multiplier. And all that I have seen this year confirms the Army remains a place that creates memories for a lifetime, offering adventure, skills, camaraderie and a place of belonging – whoever you are, wherever you come from and whatever you do.

It’s very common to find people in the Army who grew up in some of the most deprived areas of our country. Many chose to become cadets to build confidence and find new friends. Many, just six years after joining, are earning £45,000 a year, with apprenticeships under their belts and their families in good-value accommodation,. This is a story told up and down the land amongst our officers and soldiers…testament to the Army’s extraordinary record on social mobility and our status as the country’s leading provider of apprenticeships, with over 13,000 at any one time.

So, to those who aspire to be make a difference, come and join us. Whether as a regular or a reserve, we’re making it easier and faster to do so, more digital and intuitive, and with greater choice and opportunity. You can change your life through the Army, so why don’t you?

To conclude this opening speech, you’d not be surprised to hear a Chief of the General Staff remind you of the uncertain and dangerous times we live in. They are, and I have.

With the commitments outlined in the vision of the SDR, we are building ever more lethal land forces, capable of operating over ever greater distances, in ways that will make fighting us such an unfair proposition that no-one in the right mind would do so. But if they try, we would fight.

That is the Army the Nation needs, NATO wants, and frankly, our soldiers deserve.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 9 June 2025.

Defence Secretary John Healey co-chairs the first Defence Industrial Joint Council meeting today, bringing together defence firms, trade unions and investors to forge a new partnership aimed at improving warfighting readiness, driving innovation and boosting British jobs.

• Defence Secretary to co-chair inaugural Defence Industrial Joint Council meeting at Hadean’s London headquarters.
• Council members include primes, tech companies, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), trade unions and investors, bringing diverse defence industry expertise from all across the UK to the heart of defence decision-making.
• Focus on delivering the Government’s Plan for Change by driving jobs and prosperity through a new partnership with industry and driving procurement reforms, marking start of London Tech Week and following launch of the Strategic Defence Review.

The UK’s drive to improve warfighting readiness and turbocharge defence innovation will be the focus of the first ever meeting of the Government’s new Defence Industrial Joint Council (DIJC) today – bringing together Ministers and defence firms of all sizes with trade unions and investors.

Co-chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence, John Healey and Dr. Charles Woodburn, Chief Executive Officer at BAE Systems, the meeting comes at a significant moment for defence, following the publication of the Government’s Strategic Defence Review and in the lead-up to the Defence Industrial Strategy’s publication this summer.

Industry, innovators and investors will benefit from the new partnership with UK Defence, enabling better decision-making and communication between the MOD and its industry partners, boosting British jobs and national security, underpinning the Government’s Plan for Change.

This comes as the Prime Minister made the historic commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of UK GDP by April 2027, recognising the critical importance of military readiness in an era of heightened global uncertainty.

Closer collaboration with the defence industry was a key focus of the Strategic Defence Review, which saw the UK committing to:

• Investing £6bn in munitions this parliament, including £1.5bn in an “always on” pipeline for munitions and building at least 6 new energetics and munitions factories in the UK, generating over 1,000 jobs and boosting export potential.
• Establishing UK Defence Innovation with £400m to fund and grow UK based companies.
• Creating a new Defence Exports Office in the Ministry of Defence to drive exports to our allies and growth at home.
• Introducing radical new reforms to speed up defence procurement.

Defence Secretary John Healey MP said:

National security is at the heart of our Plan for Change and is essential for economic security. We are sending a signal to industry and to our adversaries: with a strong UK defence sector we will make Britain secure at home and strong abroad.

It is an honour to co-chair the inaugural meeting of the Defence Industrial Joint Council, through which we can forge a new and improved partnership between government and industry, while also bringing trade unions and investors closer to the heart of defence decision-making. I am proud that this council brings together, for the first time, the full range of voices across UK Defence.

UK Defence is open for business and driving defence as an engine for economic growth, boosting British jobs across the UK.

The DIJC replaces the former Defence Suppliers Forum and aims to harness a wider, and more diverse set of defence expertise to shape the future of Britain’s defence manufacturing, supply chain and innovation – including trade union representation alongside SMEs and investors for the first time.

The Council is underpinned by a commitment to continually refresh and widen its membership, to champion new entrants to the defence sector. The diversity of the DIJC’s members reflects the defence sector of the future, a joint endeavour characterised by innovation and efficiency.

The meeting coincides with the first day of London Tech Week, serving as a reminder of the cutting-edge innovation delivered through defence tech year-round and its contribution to keeping the UK safe at home and strong abroad. Innovation as a driver for growth has been recognised by government with a commitment to ringfencing 10% defence budget for investment in novel technologies.

Dr. Charles Woodburn, Chief Executive Officer at BAE Systems said:

Today’s meeting of the Defence Industrial Joint Council is an important moment, bringing together defence companies of all sizes, along with trade unions and investors, to support implementation of the Government’s forthcoming Defence Industrial Strategy.

Improved collaboration and communication will enable industry to continue investing in new technologies, facilities and our workforce to create a stronger UK defence industrial base ready to meet evolving military requirements in an increasingly uncertain world.

Innovation can be delivered most efficiently through partnerships between the public and private sectors, exemplified by the latest remotely operated underwater robot developed by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) with small and medium enterprises. By modifying a commercially available remotely operated vehicle, Dstl and its industry partners have created a prototype which might soon be able to save lives at sea for the Royal Navy and prevent adversaries from sabotaging undersea cables and pipelines.

Background

Members of the DIJC include:

• Secretary of State for Defence (DIJC Chair)
• Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry (DIJC Vice Chair)
• Charles Woodburn, BAE Systems (Sector Chair)
• Michael Ord, Chemring (Sector Vice Chair)
• Fiona Murray, NATO Innovation Fund (Sector Vice Chair)
• Kevin Craven, ADS
• Kata Escott, Airbus Defence and Space
• David Lockwood, Babcock
• Gary Smith, GMB Union
• Craig Beddis, Hadean
• Ned Baker, Helsing
• Kerry Baldwin, IQ Capital
• Joanne O’Doherty, Kinsetsu
• Paul Livingston, Lockheed Martin UK
• Andrew Kinniburgh, Make UK
• Nick Sharpe, Modini Limited
• Louis Mosley, Palantir
• Mike Clancy, Prospect Union
• Steve Wadey, QinetiQ
• Tufan Erginbilgic, Rolls-Royce
• Julian David, techUK
• Steve Turner, Unite the Union
• Graham Booth, 2iC

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 9 June 2025.

Government delivering on Strategic Defence Review to turbocharge UK defence industry and drive ‘NATO-first’ approach.

Innovation and growth through the UK’s world-leading defence industry was the focus of a visit to a Sheffield factory today by the Defence Secretary and NATO Secretary General.

Defence Secretary, John Healey and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte toured Sheffield Forgemasters, which manufactures specialist steel parts used in critical defence programmes, including nuclear-grade steel components for the Royal Navy’s attack submarines.

The factory, which employs 725 skilled staff, is symbolic of the government’s plan to harness defence as an engine for growth and deliver on the Plan for Change, and how investment in the UK’s defence industry not only boosts British jobs but strengthens the defence and deterrence of the NATO alliance.

Sheffield Forgemasters has been manufacturing components for nuclear powered, conventionally armed submarines with more than £200m worth of contracts in place under the AUKUS programme. The Government confirmed plans last week to deliver up to 12 SSN-AUKUS attack submarines, which will further strengthen the UK’s contribution to NATO in addition to creating thousands of jobs across the UK.

It comes the week after the publication of the Government’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR), which saw the government commit billions of pounds in investment for British defence companies, driving innovation and supporting thousands of jobs around the country – delivering on the Government’s Plan for Change.

The NATO Secretary General has welcomed the industry focus of the SDR and highlighted how it will be key to supporting the deterrent effect of the alliance while boosting collective security.

Defence Secretary, John Healey said:

Sheffield Forgemasters sits in one of Britain’s proudest industrial heartlands, and it is at the heart of our drive to shift our sovereign defence industry to warfighting readiness, supporting hundreds of skilled jobs in the process. The work is ensuring this government’s commitment to the defence dividend is met, delivering on the Plan for Change.

It was a pleasure to tour its factory with the NATO Secretary General, where we discussed this government’s plan to put NATO first as we deliver on our landmark Strategic Defence Review.

NATO is critical to UK security and global security, which is why we are stepping up to lead in Europe, investing in powerful new technologies to support growth and boost our national security.

NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte:

The renewal of the UK’s defence industry will not only enhance Allied security but boost national prosperity as well. It is a vital component in ensuring warfighting readiness.

The United Kingdom has a rich heritage in manufacturing and innovation, and Sheffield Forgemasters is an excellent example of this. Harnessing this legacy will be critical to enabling NATO to effectively deter and defend against future threats.

Sheffield Forgemasters will be crucial to delivering the plans set out in the SDR, as they restart manufacturing for artillery gun barrels, the first time they have been produced by the UK in decades underlining the defence dividend delivered by this government’s spending uplift. This follows the Prime Minister’s historic commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and ambition for 3% in the next Parliament.

Their work also supports vital equipment supplied to Ukraine, such as L119 Light Guns and the AS90 self-propelled gun.

It comes after major announcements following the SDR, including: the building of up to a dozen new attack submarines for the Royal Navy; £5bn of confirmed investment in drone and laser weapon technology, up to 7,000 new UK-built long-range weapons to be procured; at least six new munitions and energetics factories in the UK; more than £1.5 billion to improve the state of military housing; and more than £1 billion for pioneering technology to spearhead battlefield engagements.

Sheffield Forgemasters plays a vital role in this National Endeavour as part of the Defence Nuclear Enterprise – the partnership of organisations that operate, maintain, renew, and sustain the UK’s nuclear deterrent.

The nuclear deterrent is the bedrock of the UK’s national security, helping to guarantee the safety of the UK and our NATO allies.