UK to invest £140 million into drone and counter-drone systems, says Healey

The UK will invest at least £140 million into drone and counter-drone systems in the first year of its new defence innovation body, the Defence Secretary has announced.

UK Defence Innovation, an organisation launched in July and backed by a total annual budget of £400 million, aims to bring new technology to the British Armed Forces, create jobs and drive growth.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, John Healey revealed that more than a third of this will be spent on drone research.

Mr Healey told MPs: “I can announce today that UK Defence Innovation will invest over £140 million in its first year into new drone and counter-drone systems to protect the UK homeland and allies in the face of increasing Russian drone incursions, backing British small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), British micro-SMEs and British universities.”

The Defence Secretary also announced that the UK Government’s competition for Defence Technical Excellence Colleges (TECs) is being launched on Monday.

He said: “Our historic defence investment comes with a fundamentally new approach: a defence dividend that is already boosting British industry, British jobs and British communities.

“We’ve launched a £770 million defence industrial strategy to drive innovation, to create British jobs and to boost British skills.

“And today, we’re announcing the Defence Technical Excellence Colleges competition has gone live, backed by £50 million to help build the skills needed to tackle the threat posed by Russia and other adversaries.”

Applications are open to English further education colleagues to deliver cutting-edge training for roles from submariners to cyber warfare, aiming to create a skills workforce for the defence industry by 2026.

Elsewhere, Father of the House Sir Edward Leigh warned that the UK’s efforts on defence are “still puny” compared to the 1930s, which he argued was the last time there was such a major threat.

Fellow Tory MP Stuart Anderson argued that the UK is “starting to fall behind some of our Nato allies” in terms of rearming and building up a defence industrial base.

Mr Healey said: “The commitment that this Government has made in our first year to increasing defence spending by largest sustained amount since the end of the Cold War is a historic move.”

He added: “I’m proud of this Government’s commitment, this Government’s investment – an extra £5 billion into defence in the first year, a commitment to reach 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and ambitions for 3% in the next Parliament, and alongside 31 other NATO allies, we’ve signed up to 5% by 2035 on core defence, security and national security.”

Asked whether the defence investment plan would be published before the end of the year as promised, the Defence Secretary said the department is “working flat out between now and the end of the year to finalise” it.

Ministers were repeatedly asked which year the UK would reach its commitment of 3% of GDP spending on defence.

Mr Healey said the UK Government has committed to 5% by 2035 and 3% “in the next parliament”.