UK to build up its cyber and space defences in £24bn boost for defence spending
3 min readBoris Johnson will set out plans for a £24bn boost to defence spending – including heavy investment in the future battlefields of cyber and space – in a four-year programme to “transform” Britain’s armed forces.
The package, which is expected to create 10,000 jobs a year, is being billed by the Government as the biggest increase in military budgets since the end of the Cold War and to mark an end to the “era of retreat”.
It includes the creation of a “space command” capable of launching the UK’s first rocket by 2022, a National Cyber Force and an agency dedicated to developing Artificial Intelligence.
Another £1.5bn will be spent on military research and development and the Government is pledging extra investment to develop the next generation of Royal Air Force jet fighters.
Defence spending boost
Mr Johnson will tell MPs that 21st century warfare is no longer limited to distant battlefields as the country’s enemies can wreak havoc through home computers and mobile phones.
As a result, the UK’s defences have to be overhauled to reflect the fast-developing threats at a perilous time for the world, he will argue.
The Military of Defence is to receive an extra £16.5bn over the next four years on top of the extra cash promised in last year’s Tory manifesto commitment to increase military spending by 0.5 percentage points above inflation.
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Downing Street said the overall impact of the moves would be to boost defence spending by £24.1bn by 2025. The budget for 2020-21 is £41.5bn.
The plans – to be detailed by Mr Johnson in a Commons statement by video link – represent a rebuff for Chancellor Rishi Sunak who had been holding out for a one-year deal – along with the rest of Whitehall – in next week’s spending review.
‘Defence must come first’
Mr Johnson said: “I have taken this decision in the teeth of the pandemic because the defence of the realm must come first.
“The international situation is more perilous and more intensely competitive than at any time since the Cold War and Britain must be true to our history and stand alongside our allies. To achieve this, we need to upgrade our capabilities across the board.
“This is our chance to end the era of retreat, transform our armed forces, bolster our global influence, unite and level up our country, pioneer new technology and defend our people and way of life.”
Cyber force to target criminal gangs and countries
Plans for a National Cyber Force were first announced two years in response to evidence that enemy states and terrorist groups were increasingly switching to online attacks on satellite and computer networks.
The unit is expected to employ 2,000 technology experts and will be jointly run by the Ministry of Defence and the GCHQ listening post in Cheltenham.
It will target criminal gangs as well as build defences against cyber-attacks emanating from countries such as China and Russia.
In 2018 Britain mounted successful cyber-attacks against Isis forces in Syria and Iraq used malware to block leaders’ access to data and to disrupt cash transactions.
The creation of a UK “space command” was promised in last year’s Conservative manifesto amid fears that space could become militarised.
The Kremlin was accused in July of testing weapons which could be used to attack rival satellites.
