Defence Secretary of the United Kingdom John Healey has announced that his country will invest $ 2 billion to kick-start the mass production of weapons as part of restructuring the rearmament strategy.
The move comes just a week after the publication of the government’s strategic Defence Review. The proposed plan incorporates building at least six new munitions and explosive factories and the procurement of more than 7,000 domestically produced long-range weapons systems.
This also includes drones and missiles. Healey has also pledged to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2034.
“The hard-fought lessons from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine show a military is only as strong as the industry that stands behind it,” Healey said in a statement on Saturday.
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“We are strengthening the UK’s industrial base to better deter our adversaries and make the UK secure at home and strong abroad.”
The Ukrainian conflict has all of a sudden sent western nations into a boost in defence production by establishing new factories, especially after US President Donald Trump's revocation of security guarantees.
Senior British officers have warned for months about depleted stockpiles, according to reports. Members of the opposition parties questioned the timing of the announcement, pointing out that procurement had stalled over the past year.
“We welcome investment in new munitions factories, but we don’t know when they will be ready—only that these orders should have been placed months ago,” said Conservative shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge.
The UK government, since the start of the war between Ukraine and Russia, has been a staunch backer of the Kyiv regime.
Moscow has repeatedly warned that foreign military assistance would only escalate the conflict without altering its eventual outcome.
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