I wrote the UK defence review: Britain must accelerate reform if it is to help guarantee Ukraine\u2019s security<\/p>\n
EXPERT COMMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n The SDR set out the steps to meet the UK\u2019s responsibilities as part of the \u2018coalition of the willing\u2019. But time is short to make the necessary changes.<\/strong><\/p>\n Two major features dominated UK defence and security in 2025: the publication of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) in June and discussions, led by Britain and France, to form a \u2018coalition of the willing\u2019 to underpin a ceasefire or settlement in Ukraine. Both draw attention to the same imperative: the need for a transformation in UK defence.\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0SDR<\/a>\u00a0described a world dominated by state-level confrontation and conflict, playing out amidst combinations of population growth, climate change, nuclear weapons proliferation, and the extraordinarily pervasive effects of the digital age.\u00a0<\/p>\n It contrasted the level of threat with the much-diminished potency of the UK armed forces. All three services were reduced in size, quality and readiness during the 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall \u2013 even accounting for the \u2018War on Terror\u2019 and commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq.<\/p>\n Writing the review, my fellow authors and I concluded that restoring deterrence in this new era of major strategic risk could not be based upon rebuilding \u2018traditional\u2019 model forces.\u00a0With armed forces evolving at the speed of technological innovation, a new industrial partnership is required to make\u00a0the UK<\/a>\u00a0ready for the modern battlefield. And it must arrive at speed.<\/p>\n Recent probes by drones and fighter aircraft into Polish and\u00a0Estonian\u00a0airspace<\/a>\u00a0show that the Russian threat is urgent and applies across the continent of Europe \u2013 and that Moscow has every intention of testing\u00a0NATO<\/a>\u2019s defences and willingness to react.\u00a0<\/p>\n The UK should progress reform at speed to meet the challenges ahead \u2013 particularly if it is to lead efforts to provide security guarantees for Ukraine.<\/p>\n