UK to deploy its Typhoon fighter jets to Poland in 2025

UK’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the country is putting its defence industry on a “war footing” by increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade, and pledged to send arms worth 500 million pounds ($620 million) to Ukraine.

Sunak described the increase as the biggest strengthening of the national defence for a generation, according to AP.

“In a world that is the most dangerous it has been since the end of the Cold War, we cannot be complacent,” Sunak said at a news briefing alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a visit to Poland. “As our adversaries align, we must do more to defend our country, our interests and our values.”

“It’s time for us to re-arm,” Sunak told a news briefing alongside Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, noting that Poland spends a larger percentage of its GDP on defence than any NATO ally.

Sunak said that next year Britain would deploy its Typhoon fighter jets to Poland to help police its skies. Poland, which borders Ukraine, has seen several incursions of its airspace since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Sunak also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to confirm the new assistance to Ukraine and “assure him of the UK’s steadfast support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s brutal and expansionist ambitions,” Sunak’s office said.