The British prime minister said billions would be invested in a sovereign warhead program that would renew Britain’s nuclear deterrent.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that the government will spend 15 billion pounds ($20.3 billion) on nuclear warheads and build six new munitions factories in a bid to improve its “warfighting readiness,” as he unveiled a strategic defence review in Glasgow.
Starmer said the government would accept all 62 recommendations made in the review, which was led by former NATO Secretary-General George Robertson and was due to be published later on Monday.
Starmer said he would create “a battle-ready, armour-clad nation with the strongest alliances, and the most advanced capabilities, equipped for the decades to come.”
Britain’s Ministry of Defence said on June 1 that, as part of the review, the country’s nuclear-powered submarine fleet will be expanded, with up to 12 new conventionally armed vessels to be built.
Starmer said 15 billion pounds would be invested in a “sovereign warhead programme” which would renew Britain’s nuclear deterrent as the “ultimate guarantor of our safety and our security.”
While the UK claims operational independence over its nuclear deterrent, the country remains dependent on the United States when it comes to missile maintenance and warhead development.
Samuel Rafanell-Williams, communications officer for the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, told The Epoch Times in April: “The UK’s submarines regularly visit a port in Georgia, USA, to have these missiles loaded and serviced. The notion that the UK has an ‘independent’ nuclear capability is therefore a fantasy.”
In a statement published on June 1, Defence Secretary John Healey said the government is strengthening Britain’s industrial base to “better deter our adversaries” and make the UK secure.
“The hard-fought lessons from [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine show a military is only as strong as the industry that stands behind them,” Healey said.
During a visit to a plant where Storm Shadow missiles are assembled, Healey said the government planned to spend 6 billion pounds ($8.13 billion) on munitions in the coming years, creating 1,000 jobs.
“Six billion over the next five years in factories like this which allow us not just to produce the munitions that equip our forces for the future but to create the jobs in every part of the UK,” he said.
The government said the prime minister has committed to spending 1.5 billion pounds to create an “always on” pipeline of munitions, meaning a continuous production line, according to the June 1 statement.
