Invest in nuclear warheads, submarines and ammunition to face "the most direct threat since the Cold War."
The UK has announced a significant driving force for its defense infrastructure to face a "new era of threats" driven by "increasing Russian aggression".
The plan unveiled on Monday, including substantial investments in nuclear warhead programs, attack submarines and ammunition plants, is part of a strategic defense review of Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would move the country to a strategic defense review of “strike war ready.”
"The threat we face now is more serious, more direct, and more unpredictable than at any time since the Cold War," Steamer said during a review in Glasgow.
He added: "We are facing wars in Europe, new nuclear risks, daily cyber attacks, increasing Russian aggression in the waters, making our sky sinister."
The UK's first defense comment since 2021 was led by former NATO Secretary-General George Robertson.
Starmer said this will bring "basic changes" to the armed forces, including "turning to war ready", recently with "NATO first" defense posture and accelerated innovation.
“Everywhere in society, every citizen of this country can play a role because we have to recognize that things in the world today have changed,” he said. “The frontline, if you want, is here.”
Faced with increasing threats from Russia, Britain has been competing to re-election. Worry about the U.S. being a less reliable ally under President Donald Trump, and increasing defense spending is other important factors as Trump calls for.
The Starmer administration promised in February to increase defense spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, which would mark "the largest continued growth in defense spending since the end of the Cold War."
The government said it would cut overseas aid to help fund spending.
According to the review’s recommendations, the government said on Sunday that this would increase inventory and weapons production capacity and could scale up if needed.
A total of £1.5 billion (USD 2 billion) will be committed to building "at least six ammunition and energy plants" and plans to produce 7,000 long-range weapons. As a result, the total spending on UK ammunition is expected to reach £6 billion ($8.1 billion) during the current parliamentary period, which will end in 2029.
As part of a military alliance with Australia and the United States, up to 12 new attack submarines are also planned to be built.
The Ministry of Defense also said it would invest £15 billion ($20.3 billion) in its nuclear warhead program. Last week, it promised to create a "network command" to help "network command" on the battlefield for £1 billion ($1.3 billion).
The commentary describes Russia as a “direct and urgent” threat, while calling China a “complex and lasting challenge.”