Tories pledge £10bn British air defence system for next election

The Conservative Party has pledged £10bn for a new air defence system called Britannia Shield, announced at its annual conference in Birmingham on Monday, if it wins the next general election. The system would provide a network of radar, command and control systems to detect incoming threats, along with interceptor missiles and counter-drone capabilities.bbc.co.uk+1

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge will deliver a speech at the conference on Tuesday describing the project as the most significant upgrade to UK air defence for generations. He said the investment was totally necessary because of the threats the country faces and only possible because of a willingness to take tough decisions to fund defence. The system aims to protect critical national infrastructure against a new type of warfare involving drones and missiles.

How the plan would work

Kemi Badenoch told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the system would be specific to UK threats rather than copying Israel's Iron Dome. She said it would be the same type of thing as Israel's system with mobile interceptors but the level of capability would differ since the UK does not face the same daily level of threat. Badenoch emphasised they are naming it Britannia Shield not the Iron Dome.bbc.com

The Conservatives likened the proposed system to Israel's Iron Dome in their announcement and a newspaper article authored by Badenoch in the Sun. She wrote that it would invest £10bn over 10 years in the radar, missiles and technology needed to detect threats and stop them before they reach British soil. Badenoch later said this was a semantic argument and newspapers used the phrase to help people understand what they were talking about.

Badenoch said the Conservatives have already announced savings in areas such as welfare and net zero to pay for the defence system. The party pledged to spend 3 percent of gross domestic product on defence by 2030 which they say would provide an additional £10 billion a year. Measures such as reinstating the two-child benefit cap and reforming housing benefit would help fund the plans according to party officials.

Funding sources clarified

The air defence system announced on Monday, described as in essence a British iron dome, would account for around £1 billion annually over 10 years as part of this pre-existing funding promise. Badenoch told Times Radio that the allotted £10bn should be able to deliver the project and she is really worried that the government is not talking about defence at all. She added the government does not have a fully funded plan.

Former army general Richard Barrons told Times Radio the cost of a system similar to Israel's would be upwards of £100bn. Badenoch said on Times Radio it was a semantic argument and that the new system would protect Britain from increasing threats. She told journalists the UK needs to be ready to defend itself from potential aerial attacks and new investment is needed in advanced radar and interceptor missiles.

The Labour Government has pledged to reach defence spending of 3.5 percent GDP by 2035 with a target for 3 percent funding to be set out in the spending review. Plans set out in the defence investment plan will see spending rise to 2.7 percent of GDP by 2027/28 but there are no firm details on how further increases will be achieved beyond that date. A Labour Party spokesperson said trusting the Tories to invest in Britain's defences would wave a huge white flag to our enemies.theguardian.com

Labour response to pledge

Mrs Badenoch said Labour still will not commit the money Britain needs for defence and keep pouring billions into a broken welfare system while leaving security underfunded. She said when forced to choose Labour picks social security over national security while Conservatives choose differently. The shadow defence secretary said the system would deliver the most significant upgrade to UK air defence for generations.

The Liberal Democrats said the pledge showed the Conservatives were once again indulging in Truss-style fantasy economics. Party defence spokesperson James MacCleary said £10 billion would not even touch the sides for a complete UK-wide iron dome and questioned which parts of the country the patchwork dome would not cover. He added that the party had hollowed out the armed forces for a decade.

Real-terms defence spending fluctuated under successive Tory governments between 2010 and 2024, falling by around 22 percent by 2016/17, after which it steadily rose and returned to 2010 levels. Badenoch said the world will not wait for Britain to get ready and that war has returned to Europe. She noted that missiles and drones are transforming warfare in the Middle East.

The Conservatives said their plan would be funded within their existing commitment to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2030, paid for by welfare reform and reprioritisation of existing expenditure. The current Labour government's Defence Investment Plan includes more than £350m to double the number of Sky Sabre systems operated by the British Army.