P.70
12. The first responsibility of the Government is to defend the UK and its citizens.
This includes our responsibility to ensure the security of the fourteen Overseas Territories (OTs) and the Crown Dependencies of the Bailiwick of Jersey, the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Isle of Man. We also have responsibilities to the five million British people that live outside the UK, and to British nationals on visits overseas.
In fulfilling these responsibilities, our priority actions will be:
To secure British territory against physical incursions. The Royal Navy will remain active in the UK’s territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zone, including by investing in new capabilities to protect undersea CNI. The Royal Air Force (RAF) will continue to provide a 24-hour quick reaction alert force to defend UK airspace and our new Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft will patrol the North Atlantic from their base at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.
P.71
To modernise the UK armed forces, maintaining a full spectrum of capabilities, as set out in the Defence Command Paper. We will prioritise the development and integration of new technologies - including those required for near-peer, high-tech warfighting - and a 'digital backbone' to enable multi-domain operations and interoperability with allies and partners. In the Euro-Atlantic, the UK will be one of only two NATO Allies to bring to bear nuclear, offensive cyber, precision strike weapons and fifth-generation strike aircraft. We will also contribute to missile defence, to space awareness and resilience (including through a new Space Command) and to CBRN resilience. A new generation of warships will support
our historic role in keeping the North Atlantic open. Our highly mobile airborne and amphibious forces will be able to reinforce Allies at short notice. Our land force will undergo its most comprehensive modernisation for two decades, becoming better integrated with other domains, better able to intervene quickly and effectively over large distances, better protected from electronic, air and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle threats, and better able to engage an adversary at long range. Our Special Forces will be ready to operate in the most hostile environments and against our most sophisticated adversaries. With international partners including Italy and Sweden, we will continue to develop FCAS as a replacement for our Typhoon fast jets, drawing on ground-breaking technologies from the defence sector and beyond.
P.98
A Defence Command Paper will be published alongside the Integrated Review, (this is due on 22 March!) setting out plans for defence in more detail. We intend to publish further strategies, including on resilience, cyber and international development, in due course.
Future SRs will provide further opportunities to align spending plans with the priorities set by the Integrated Review.
P.102
3. Strengthening security and defence at home and overseas
Defence (MOD)
Over £24 bn increase in cash terms over four years, including at least £6.6bn of R&D (as mentioned above) to maintain a cutting-edge military. This reaffirms the UK's commitment to its allies, making the UK the largest European spender on defence in NATO and the second largest in the Alliance.
The additional funding in this settlement will:
Enable research into AI and other battle-winning technologies.
Reshape the UK's armed forces for a more competitive age.
Establish a new Space Command and enhance the breadth of our space capabilities.
Continue the renewal of the UK's nuclear deterrent.
Develop the next generation of naval vessels, including Type 32 frigates and Fleet Solid Support ships, and deliver our plans for eight Type 26 and five Type 31 frigates.
Progress our Carrier Strike capabilities, with at least 48 F-35s by 2025.
Develop the Future Combat Air System for the RAF, along with delivering upgraded Typhoon radars.
Enhance the UK's position as a responsible, democratic cyber power (as mentioned above).
I wonder what all this means for the Tranche 1 Typhoons?