UK to be 'war-ready' as Government to build up to 12 attack submarines

The UK will build up to 12 new nuclear-powered attack submarines and invest £15bn in its warhead programme, the Prime Minister will announce on Monday as the Government unveils its strategic defence review.

Significant investment in the UK nuclear warhead programme this parliament and maintaining the existing stockpile are among the 62 recommendations that the Government is expected to accept in full.

But questions were also raised about its commitment to defence spending after the Defence Secretary could not confirm the Treasury had guaranteed funding to bring it up to 3% of GDP by 2034.

Building the new submarines, which is part of the Aukus partnership with the US and Australia, will support 30,000 highly skilled jobs into the 2030s as well as 30,000 apprenticeships and 14,000 graduate roles across the next 10 years, the Ministry of Defence said.

Defence Secretary John Healey said: “Our outstanding submariners patrol 24/7 to keep us and our allies safe, but we know that threats are increasing and we must act decisively to face down Russian aggression.

“With new state-of-the-art submarines patrolling international waters and our own nuclear warhead programme on British shores, we are making Britain secure at home and strong abroad, while delivering on our Plan for Change with 30,000 highly skilled jobs across the country.”

Defence Secretary John Healey said the UK ‘must act decisively to face down Russian aggression’ (Yui Mok/PA). PA Media

The £15bn investment into the warhead programme will back the Government’s commitments to maintain the continuous-at-sea nuclear deterrent, build a new fleet of Dreadnought submarines and deliver all future upgrades.

From the late 2030s, the fleet of up to 12 SSN-Aukus conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines will replace seven astute class attack submarines the UK is due to start operating.

In response to the strategic defence review, the Government will also commit to:

– Getting the armed forces to a stage where it would be ready to fight a war

– Boosting weapons and equipment stockpiles and making sure there is capacity to scale up production if needed in a crisis or war

– Buying up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons in a move due to support 800 defence jobs

– Setting up a new cyber command and investing £1bn in digital capabilities

– More than £1.5bn of additional funding to repair and renew armed forces housing.

Sir Keir Starmer will say: “From the supply lines to the front lines, this Government is foursquare behind the men and women upholding our nation’s freedom and security.

“National security is the foundation of my Plan for Change, and this plan will ensure Britain is secure at home and strong abroad, while delivering a defence dividend of well-paid jobs up and down the country.

“This strategic defence review will ensure the UK rises to the challenge and our armed forces have the equipment they need that keeps us safe at home while driving greater opportunity for our engineers, shipbuilders and technicians of the future.”

The Conservatives and Lib Dems questioned Labour’s commitment to funding the promises it was making.

The Government has previously set out its “ambition to reach 3% in the next parliament”, after meeting its pledge to ratchet up defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by April 2027.

Healey had said there was “no doubt” the UK would reach 3% in an interview with The Times.

But on Sunday, he sidestepped questions about whether he had any guarantee from the Treasury to provide the funding when asked on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.

He said he does not expect to increase the number of people in the armed forces until the next Parliament amid a recruitment and retention crisis.

Asked when the Army would reach the target of 73,000, Healey 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.”

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said: “All of Labour’s Strategic Defence Review promises will be taken with a pinch of salt unless they can show there will actually be enough money to pay for them.

“Whereas, far from guaranteeing the funding, John Healey has been hung out to dry by Rachel Reeves.

“As recently as Thursday, Healey promised that defence spending would definitely hit 3%, but today he’s completely backtracked.

“These submarines are not due to enter service till the late 2030s, so how can we have any confidence Labour will actually deliver them when they can’t even sustain a policy on defence spending for more than 48 hours?”

Lib Dem defence spokesperson Helen Maguire said: “This signals absolutely the right intent about the need to bolster the UK’s defences in the face of Putin’s imperialism and Trump’s unreliability.

“But this must come with a concrete commitment and detail on full funding.

“Labour’s mere ‘ambition’ rather than commitment to reach 3% of GDP on defence leaves serious questions about whether the money for these projects will actually be forthcoming.

“The 2034 timeline suggests a worrying lack of urgency from the Government.

“Unless Labour commits to holding cross-party talks on how to reach 3% much more rapidly than the mid-2030s, this announcement risks becoming a damp squib.”