Headlines
· Two new 5,000 strong strike brigades for rapid deployment missions
· Nine new Boeing P8 maritime patrol aircraft
· Typhoon programme extended by 10 years to 2040 and upgrade work
· £12bn uplift in the equipment budget
Overview
The 2015 SDSR will re-write the wrongs of the hastily executed
2010 iteration, reintroducing a maritime patrol capability that was expensively scrapped in 2010.
BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale saysthis SDSR will be remembered for its 'largesse', although with just £12bn of new money in a £178bn ten year spend, it is hard to see this as more than a very expensive and drawn out U-turn. The Boeing P-8 aircraft will be used for surveillance, anti-submarine and anti-surface ship warfare.
The strike brigades, each of 5,000 troops, will be operational by 2025 and will be supported by the Scout range of vehicles and other armoured vehicles, due to come into service in the coming years. This projection of power illustrates Cameron's perceived willingness to put 'boots on the ground' more readily and in a quicker fashion. The slow and cumbersome parliamentary procedure may have some influence on that process in reality.
Prime Minister David Cameron has acknowledged the need to move beyond conventional defences and have the ability to 'counter threats that do not recognise national borders'. The changes to the Typhoon programme, a long life, stealth potential and greater air-to-ground capability support his view, as does the £1.9bn investment in RAF Reaper drones, which will double in number. The Typhoon expansion plans will see the total number of squadrons increase to twelve. The SDSR also outlines the plans for procuring the F-35 jets that will fly from the two aircraft carriers, currently under construction, increasing the 2023 availability to 24 rather than eight.
Cameron has previously outlined a £2bn investment in the country's special forces, a part of defence policy the Government has consistently refused to outline on the floor of the Commons.
The new investment is helped by the Government's commitment to spending two per cent of gross national income on defence every year until 2020, half a per cent above inflation.
Cameron outlined the headlines of the SDRS in a
letter to the Daily Telegraph.
Launching the SDSR, David Cameron
has said;
"Our national security depends on our economic security, and vice versa. So the first step in our National Security Strategy is to ensure our economy is, and remains, strong.
Over the last five years we have taken the difficult decisions needed to bring down our deficit and restore our economy to strength. In 2010, the total black hole in the defence budget alone was bigger than the entire defence budget in that year. Now it is back in balance.
By sticking to our long-term economic plan, Britain has become the fastest growing major advanced economy in the world for the last two years. Our renewed economic security means we can afford to invest further in our national security.
This is vital at a time when the threats to our country are growing. From the rise of ISIL and greater instability in the Middle East, to the crisis in Ukraine, the threat of cyber-attacks and the risk of pandemics, the world is more dangerous and uncertain today than five years ago.
So while every government must choose how to spend the money it has available, every penny of which is hard-earned by taxpayers, this Government has taken a clear decision to invest in our security and safeguard our prosperity.
As a result, the United Kingdom is the only major country in the world today which is simultaneously going to meet the NATO target of spending two per cent of our GDP on defence and the UN target of spending 0.7 per cent of our GNI on development, while also increasing investment in our security and intelligence agencies and in counter-terrorism.
At its [the strategy] heart is an understanding that we cannot choose between conventional defences against state-based threats and the need to counter threats that do not recognise national borders. Today we face both and we must respond to both. So over the course of this Parliament our priorities are to deter state-based threats, tackle terrorism, remain a world leader in cyber security and ensure we have the capability to respond rapidly to crises as they emerge.
Our Armed Forces, our police and our security and intelligence agencies put their lives on the line every day. Their service is an inspiration to us all and they are the pride of our nation. Through this National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review we will back them and use our hard-earned economic strength to support our Armed Forces, and to give those in our police and our security and intelligence agencies who fight terrorism the resources they need to help keep our country safe."
Ahead of this afternoon’s publication, read Dods Monitoring’s summary outlining key areas of defence spending and investment
here.