Government confirms multi-year £16.5bn increase in Defence spending

20 Nov 2020 02:48 PM

The Prime Minister has announced a significant four year investment in Defence, focusing on AI, Cyber and Space capabilities

Ahead of the conclusion of the government’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy (Integrated Review), the Prime Minister has announced the largest uplift in Defence spending since the end of the Cold War. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) will receive an extra £4bn a year over the next four years, representing an increase of around 10% on the MOD’s annual budget of £40bn.

Combined with the government’s manifesto commitment of a 0.5% uplift in Defence spending, the total increase for the MOD is around £24.1bn and equates to 2.2% of the UK’s GDP.

As part of his statement to the House of Commons, the Prime Minister announced that this new investment will include:

Commenting on the announcement, techUK’s Head of Defence Programme Fred Sugden said:

“techUK welcomes the substantial commitment made by the government to invest in new technologies to transform and modernise the UK’s military capabilities. Ahead of the conclusion of the Integrated Review, it is encouraging to see the government prioritise new investment in key areas such as AI, Cyber and Space, all of which are fundamental to safeguard the UK’s national security. techUK’s members are world-leaders in the development of next generation and generation-after-next technologies, and we look forward to working closely with the MOD as it works to secure and extend the UK’s technological advantage into the future”

Further details on the announcement can be found in the Government press release here.

If you have any questions or comments please contact techUK’s Head of Defence Programme Fred Sugden at fred.sugden@techuk.org