Britain to reform its armed forces inspired by war in Ukraine

The United Kingdom is preparing a sweeping reform of its armed forces, drawing heavily on lessons from Ukraine's war with Russia as it reshapes its military to confront future conflicts, Politico reports.

The outlet said the government is set to announce one of the most significant transformations of Britain's military in decades.

The Defence Investment Plan (DIP), due to be unveiled on June 30 by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, outlines a strategy based on Ukraine's battlefield experience.

According to the Ministry of Defence, the plan adopts Ukraine's approach of prioritising "cheap systems destroying high-value targets and innovation cycles measured in weeks, not years."

The initiative is intended to advance the objectives of last year's Strategic Defence Review, which concluded that "state conflict has returned to Europe." The announcement follows a period of budgetary pressure that led to the unexpected resignation of former Defence Secretary John Healey earlier this month.

For many years, Britain's military capabilities have been centred on naval power, with aircraft carriers, nuclear-armed submarines and other large warships forming the backbone of its defence strategy.

However, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has challenged many traditional military assumptions. The conflict has demonstrated the vulnerability of expensive military assets while highlighting the effectiveness of low-cost drones, precision munitions, autonomous systems, artificial intelligence and rapid technological adaptation on the battlefield.

One of the most notable elements of the Defence Investment Plan is the decision not to allocate new funding for up to eight planned Type 83 guided missile destroyers and Type 32 frigates, projects that had been expected to play a central role in expanding the Royal Navy during the 2030s.

Instead, Britain plans to invest in at least six new Common Combat Vessels that will serve as command ships for a range of uncrewed systems, including Type 93 underwater anti-submarine vessels, Type 91 unmanned missile platforms, and Type 92 and Type 94 unmanned aerial and maritime sensor platforms. The shift reflects Ukraine's success in using drones and missiles to challenge Russia's Black Sea Fleet despite lacking a conventional navy.

The modernisation effort also extends to the Royal Air Force. Officials have announced investment in a national Collaborative Combat Air program aimed at developing autonomous aircraft capable of operating alongside crewed fighter jets. The project forms part of the British-Italian-Japanese Global Combat Air Programme, which seeks to produce a sixth-generation fighter aircraft.

Tim Willasey-Wilsey, a senior associate fellow at the RUSI defence think tank, said Britain still requires a strong navy to protect its global trade interests but argued that the military should redirect its priorities to become "much leaner and meaner."

Although publication of the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan fulfils a key demand from NATO allies and Britain's defence industry, its implementation is expected to fall to Andy Burnham, who is widely expected to succeed Starmer as prime minister later this summer.

Under the proposals, Britain would move closer to NATO's target of allocating 3.5% of GDP to defence by 2035. However, the country's spending would still trail that of allies such as Germany, France and Poland, while the government has yet to present a detailed long-term funding strategy. The Financial Times reported that the plan would add approximately £15 billion to the existing £270 billion defence budget during the current parliamentary term.

The package includes £5 billion for a major drone modernisation program. The Ministry of Defence pointed to Ukraine's use of around 200,000 drones every month as evidence of the type of capability Britain aims to develop.

“Technology on the battlefield is changing at lightning speed. The clear lesson from Ukraine tells us that drones have changed the character of warfare,” said Ross Exley, vice president of defence strategy at Hadean, a British technology company represented on the government's Defence Industrial Joint Council.

The investment plan also provides funding for what is expected to become Europe's largest drone testing centre, which will operate alongside a new task force responsible for helping "continuously scale production" and rapidly supply drones to British forces.

Willasey-Wilsey added that it was “slightly ironic that Britain started training the Ukrainians back in 2022, and now they could be very much training us — they are showing us how war should be fought these days.”

“It’s warfare we couldn’t do. We wouldn’t last more than a few weeks," he said.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov