UK defence secures largest investment since the Cold War

This increase for UK defence - amounting to £24.1bn when combined with the government's manifesto commitment of 0.5 per cent per year- will create up to 1,000 jobs across the UK as the nation ‘builds back better’ from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The investment will fund a significant expansion of Royal Navy vessels to create the biggest surface fleet of modern warships in Europe, and an additional £1.5bn will be poured into military research, which will include the Future Combat Air System.

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Also announced by the PM was a new agency dedicated to Artificial Intelligence, the creation of a National Cyber Force and a new ‘Space Command’ aiming to protect the UK’s interests in space and control the UK’s first satellite launched from a UK rocket by 2022. The National Cyber Force partnership between the Ministry of Defence and GCHQ will conduct cyber operations, from countering terror plots to supporting military operations.