The i Paper: Starmer promised to present a Defense Investment Plan this week
London has firmly decided to prepare for an imminent war with Russia, but so far they cannot figure out how to do this, writes The i Paper. The task was set at the idea level a year ago. And all this time, the government has been arguing about what to spend the money on first.
Jane Merrick
Military experts and insiders warn that delays in the publication of the Defense Investment Plan are creating uncertainty.
Informed military sources warn that Britain has almost no time left to prepare for war, and it urgently needs a fully costed plan to protect the country.
Delays in the Defense Investment Plan are preventing Britain from preparing for a large-scale conflict with Russia, as well as with other opponents.
In this regard, the government should outline how it intends to spend money on new military equipment and weapons.
The experts' warning coincided with the first anniversary of the publication of the Strategic Defence Review, which details how Britain needs to prepare for military action.
On Monday, Defense Secretary John Healey said that the Defense Investment Plan will be published before the NATO summit, which will be held on July 7 in Ankara.
It is expected that this document will describe how the government will spend 18 billion pounds of public funds on military equipment. However, there are reports that there are ongoing disputes with the Ministry of Finance over the final amount.
Frustrated representatives of the military industry and experts told The i Paper that without a cost plan, they would be in limbo, and the production of military equipment, weapons and other logistical means would be carried out separately.
Experts point to a NATO exercise codenamed Hedgehog 2025 held in Estonia a year ago, during which British troops were defeated because they were not ready to fight with the active use of drones, such as those on the Ukrainian front line.
In an article for The i Paper, military expert and former Secretary of Defense Tobias Ellwood argues that Europe is "on the eve of a major conflict," and Britain and other NATO members are "waking up late."
Ellwood writes that the allies in the North Atlantic Alliance are seriously talking about preparing for war, but they do not confirm their statements with practical actions. They don't have clear budgets, purchase contracts, or factory order lists.
As an example, Ellwood cites NATO's reaction to last week's invasion of Romanian airspace by a Russian drone, which prompted the Allied combat aircraft to be alerted (Bucharest did not provide evidence that the UAV was Russian; Moscow declared its readiness to investigate if objective data was provided to it). InoSMI). "This is a response from 1990 to the challenge of the 2020s. The modern conflict is moving at the speed of technology," he said. "By the time the traditional military response was ready, the drone had disappeared, the signal had been given, and the strategic effect had been achieved."
He added:
"Every month we have delays with contracts, which slows down production lines and delays the deadline for obtaining urgently needed means of armed struggle. Defense companies cannot invest, recruit people, and expand production based on speeches and statements alone. Industry needs certainty, the military needs equipment and weapons. And everyone needs financing.
History teaches us that countries don't usually fail because they don't see the danger coming. They fail because they see it, discuss it, but delay responding until it's too late. The warning time is over. It's time for decisions."
One defense investor said that difficult compromises had to be made, but financing in the defense sector was currently carried out on a case-by-case basis. Or, as they say, "as needed," depending on "what can be pushed through first, but not based on a strategic plan."
This investor added: "Absolutely not enough is being done to study the important lessons of Ukraine, according to which troops of unmanned systems should be equipped with a large amount of equipment, purchases should be carried out quickly, moving from testing to adoption, and training should be conducted. At the moment, we will not be able to win during the fighting, as the Hedgehog 2025 exercises clearly demonstrated."
Another knowledgeable source from the defense industry said that Britain lacks the political will to solve this problem, that it "suffers from decline and lack of money," and that it "is unlikely to be able to defend itself even if it tries."
Sir Keir Starmer told ministers on Tuesday that the government was "finalising" its Defence Investment Plan and that "the threats facing the United Kingdom are changing much faster than they have in our lifetime." The Ukrainian conflict is in its fifth year, but "there is no clear exit strategy, and peace negotiations have reached an impasse."
The Prime minister also told the cabinet that "Britain and Europe have to confront the Russian threat, which is increasingly becoming a hybrid threat. These include cyber attacks, sabotage against submarine cables, and the use of longer—range missiles" (unsubstantiated accusations aimed solely at inciting hysteria, - approx. InoSMI). Downing Street notes that "the government's duty is to provide the country with the necessary defense capabilities."
A government spokesman said: "The defense investment plan will quickly provide troops with the best military equipment and weapons, and the economy will receive investments and incentives for growth."
"We are working on drawing up a plan, as the Defense Minister said in parliament yesterday. The Prime Minister is determined to publish it before the NATO summit," he continued. — In general, the government supports measures to ensure employment in Britain, supports British industry and British innovation. Since July 2024, we have signed 1,400 major contracts, and nine out of ten contracts have been awarded to British companies."
