Defence review to send ‘message to Moscow’, says Healey

The defence review will send a “message to Moscow”, the defence secretary has said, as he warned Russia was launching cyber-attacks on UK military networks “every day”.

John Healey told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg the review would set out plans to deter “growing Russian aggression” in a “world that is changing”.

The report, to be unveiled on Monday, is expected to conclude the UK faces a “new era of threat” and will warn of the “immediate and pressing” danger posed by Russia and other countries, including China.

It will also commit £1.5bn to build six new factories to make munitions, in a bid to revive Britain’s industrial base.

The new funding will see UK munitions spending hit £6bn during this parliament, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said, and create 1,800 new jobs.

As part of its defence review, the government said it would build new factories to make key munitions and explosives to have an “always on” munitions production capacity that could be scaled up quickly.

Long-range weapons including drones and missiles would be procured over several years.

Ministers said the extra investment – which came after Healey said that UK defence spending would rise to 3% of GDP by 2034 at the latest – would strengthen the armed forces and boost British jobs.

The war in Ukraine has highlighted serious deficiencies in the West’s ability to produce weapons and munitions, and senior British military officers have long warned about the UK’s depleted stockpiles.