Britain faces a “new era of threat” including the “immediate and pressing” danger of Russia, the long-awaited strategic defence review will warn on Monday.
The report, which will be published after nearly a year, consists of 48,000 words and is about 130 pages long. The government is expected to accept all 62 recommendations in full.
On the eve of publication, John Healey, the defence secretary, said Britain must be prepared for a military attack by Russia. The review will also focus on other countries, including China, which is not described as an enemy but as a “sophisticated and persistent challenge”.
The report will be an extensive and “transformative” document that will address defence and its structures. Troops from the American, French and German militaries were embedded inside the review team to ensure Britain’s closest allies had a joined-up approach.
Here are measures we already know will feature:
Weapons
The government will invest £6 billion on munitions to replenish UK stockpiles, with £1.5 billion earmarked for six new factories that will sustain 1,000 jobs.
This will support the procurement of up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons, responding to a recommendation for an “always-on” defence industry to put Britain on a pre-war footing.
More will follow in a separate defence industrial strategy, with Healey confirming that the Ministry of Defence will increase the number of industrial war games to ensure businesses are ready to supply ammunition and equipment at the rate needed in wartime.
John Healey made clear that conducting cyber warfare was now part of Britain’s defence strategy
STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA
Cyber warfare
Britain will ramp up its offensive cyberattacks against states such as Russia and China as part of a new cyber command that will co-ordinate such offensive digital capabilities.
This could involve hacking into computer systems to disrupt an enemy’s ability to launch conventional attacks and spread propaganda online.
Healey said that “the keyboard is now a weapon of war”, in the first comments from a minister explicitly saying Britain would launch a cyberattack on another country.
The Ministry of Defence has faced 90,000 cyberattacks from “state-linked sources” over the past two years.
New methods of fighting
Tanks, armoured vehicles and attack helicopters will go into battle after sending a swarm of drones at the enemy under plans to reform how the British Army fights.
The strategic defence review will set out a new way of fighting known as “20-40-40”, which aims to reduce troop casualties. This “autonomy drive” is part of innovation plans that will form a chunk of the review.
Expensive, heavy equipment such as tanks will make up roughly 20 per cent of fighting capability, positioned further from the front line until a later stage of battle.
Soldiers in Challenger 3 tanks will deploy kamikaze drones and others will fire long-range precision missiles at the enemy. “Single-use” items such as drones that explode on impact and shells, make up this “40” element.
Reusable drones, typically costlier and more durable reconnaissance or attack drones such as the MQ-9 Reaper, will make up the remaining “40”.
Sir Keir Starmer will pledge £15 billion of investment for the UK’s sovereign nuclear warhead programme.
STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA
Forces housing
More than £1.5 billion in extra funding for military homes will be confirmed as part of the strategic defence review.
Cash will be used on urgent repairs such as fixing boilers and roofs, and other issues, including tackling damp.
Boosting armed forces numbers
The report will address how to bolster armed forces numbers to hit the current target of 72,500 amid ongoing problems with recruitment and retention, which is leading to 200-300 troops leaving per month.
The RAF, navy and army have failed to hit their hiring targets every year for a decade.
There will be no plans to cut armed forces numbers. Healey has admitted that he cannot increase the size of the armed forces until the next parliament — from 2029 onwards — because there are more people leaving than joining.
The government is likely to emphasise a push to hit current recruitment targets by having better housing for troops and relaxing the rules around who can sign up.
Asked when the army would reach the target of 72,500, the defence secretary said: “We’ve narrowed the gap, but we’ve still got more people leaving than joining. The first job is to reverse that trend and then I want to see, in the next parliament, our ability to start to increase the number.”
Boosting the reserves
The review recommends ways to boost reserve numbers by incentivising young people to join the cadets and using the “strategic reserve,” soldiers and officers who have left the armed forces but are required to return in the event of a war.
Military chiefs are trying to locate those individuals after The Times revealed many of them were deemed effectively missing because their addresses had not been kept. In theory, the military could enforce mandatory training so veterans are forced to stay in regular touch with the military, as they did during the Cold War.
Defence chiefs are considering how this can be achieved to ensure the military is ready for a “bigger, longer war” and ensure it can “generate mass quickly and sustain it”. This is to address concerns inside the armed forces that ministers will struggle to increase the size of the regular army, even if they wanted to.
Homeland defence force
The report will recommend the re-establishment of a civilian home guard to protect national infrastructure.
The Times revealed in January that plans were being discussed by the reviewers for a “homeland defence force” that would be fully activated in the event of a big conflict.
A source said at the time: “They have realised they need to generate a homeland defence force in the event of a major war as the whole of the regulars and reserves need to fight and they need a separate force to defend the homeland.
Submarines
Up to a dozen conventionally-armed submarines will eventually replace the seven Astute-class nuclear-powered submarines under an expansion of the fleet that will be in operation from the late 2030s.
The seven Astute-class submarines will be replaced
JAMES CLARKE/MINISTRY OF DEFENCE/CROWN COPYRIGHT/PA
This fleet will be in addition to the four ballistic missile submarines that carry the UK’s at-sea nuclear deterrent. The prime minister will pledge £15 billion of investment in the UK’s sovereign nuclear warhead programme.
It is the first time Britain has disclosed how many new nuclear-powered attack submarines will be built to replace the current Astute-class submarines and the full scale of its investment in its warhead programmes.
The order will take the total number of new submarines on order for the Aukus partnership up to 20 after the eight that the Australian government has already committed itself to.
The Royal Navy currently operates five conventionally-armed submarines that are nuclear-powered, but not nuclear-armed, as part of the Astute-class fleet. Two more will enter service by the end of 2026.
New nature of threats
The review is expected to lay out the “new era of threat” Britain faces through drones, artificial intelligence and other technologies that are changing the nature of warfare at a pace of change never seen before in history.
Critical infrastructure
A new underwater surveillance programme, known as Atlantic Bastion and overseen by the Royal Navy, will guard against Russian sabotage of internet cables and energy pipelines.
Shipbuilding
The review backs a resurgence in shipbuilding, with the Royal Navy wanting to increase the number of destroyers and frigates to 25, up from the 14 at present.