The government’s long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP) has finally been published, after months of wrangling over the issue and multiple ministerial resignations.
While Sir Keir Starmer has promised the DIP will reverse the “corrosive hollowing out” of the armed forces, the funding package still falls well short of the £28bn military officials said would be necessary to fill a black hole in the MoD’s budget. Meanwhile, with Sir Keir set to leave office within weeks, there is no guarantee that the funding set out today will still stand under the next prime minister.
Nevertheless, the plan sets out an extra £15bn of funding for the military, up just over £1bn from the package that was proposed to John Healey and prompted his resignation.
From new funding for Britain’s nuclear deterrent to the retirement of Storm Shadow missiles, here The Independent looks at the key takeaways from Sir Keir’s defence investment plan.
UK won’t hit 3 per cent by 2030
Britain is not projected to spend three per cent of GDP on defence by 2030, the DIP reveals, with the MoD expected to hit just 2.7 per cent.
However, the DIP also makes clear the government’s intention to increase defence spending to 3 per cent in the next Parliament, adding that funding and plans will be “set out at the next spending review, where defence will be the number one priority”.
While defence sources insisted it is “incredible unusual for the Treasury specify what their top priority is ahead of the next spending review”, Armed Forces minister Luke Pollard would not say whether or not Andy Burnham - who is expected to take over as prime minister within the next few weeks - had agreed to make defence the top priority at the next spending review, meaning there is no guarantee that the commitment will stand.
Mr Pollard also insisted that Britain is “still committed” to spending 3.5 per cent of GDP on core defence by 2035.
£11bn in efficiencies must be found
Defence secretary Dan Jarvis admitted that “tough choices” would be necessary to make sure the armed forces are fit for the modern era, with the MoD having to find £11bn worth of efficiencies by 2029.
“Increased spending is only half the story. We have made tough choices, to stop doing things which were designed for another age, and invest in capabilities fit for the next war, not the last one”, Mr Jarvis wrote in the foreword to the DIP.
The nearly £11bn worth of efficiencies will include £3.3bn worth of savings through civilian workforce changes - including a target to cut workforce costs by at least 10 per cent by 2030.
There are also plans to move regular personnel from administrative into frontline roles, alongside a goal to automate at least 20 per cent of HR, finance, and commercial functions by July 2028. Some £2bn worth of savings will come from infrastructure, while £3.7bn will come through reforms to acquisition and supply chain processes.
Defence sources insisted that the efficiency savings are “not directly connected to the spending uplift”, with the £15bn increase in spending power not conditional on the savings.
Storm shadows to be retired as part of ‘tough choices’
Storm Shadow missiles - Anglo-French long range, air-launched cruise missiles which allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russia - will be retired as part of a series of “tough choices” being made by the MoD.
The DIP sets out that while Storm Shadow missiles have plated a “vital role” for the Armed Forces, ministers are “now pivoting to the next generation of low-cost cruise missiles, meaning we will get significantly more missiles at a reduced overall cost.”
“Alongside these types of weapons, Stratus missiles will be the future of the UK’s complex weapons programme, delivering long range strikes against complex targets”, it adds.
The Stratus joint missile programme with France and Italy is working to develop a next generation stealth replacement to the Storm Shadow missile.
The DIP also sets out plans for the early retirement of Wildcat battlefield reconnaissance helicopters from 2027 and the oldest Chinooks as they reach maintenance milestones, cutbacks which the DIP said would be “offset by investment in Projects NYX and CORVUA, New Medium Helicopter and planned future purchases of newer Chinooks.”
Older Type 23 Frigates will also enter phased retirement up to 2033, while at least seven new ships will come online during that period.
The trade-offs also include plans to slow the pace of meeting the SDR recommendation to increase cadets by 30 per cent, something which will now not be achieved by 2030. Instead, the MoD will aim to meet this target by 2035.
£5bn for “drone transformation” for the armed forces
Learning the lessons from both Ukraine and Iran, Sir Keir pledged more than £5bn of spending over the next four years to fund a “drone transformation” for the armed forces.
Some £650m will be spent on combat and surveillance drones for land forces, which Sir Keir said would help increase the Army’s “lethality” ten-fold.
There will also be funding for a “hybrid” Royal Navy, with smaller, autonomous vessels working alongside crewed ships.
And the prime minister pledged more than £8bn for the Global Combat Air Programme to create a next-generation stealth fighter jet for the Royal Air Force in concert with Japan and Italy. The new jet will also be supported by smaller autonomous “wingmen”, invisible to enemy radar, he added.
By 2030, £3.2bn will also be spent on novel technologies, including AI and autonomous systems, which represents 10 per cent of the MOD’s annual Equipment Programme budget as part of an attempt to create an Armed Forces fit for the modern age.
£64bn upgrade to Britain’s nuclear deterrent
Sir Keir said the investment in “renewing” the UK’s nuclear deterrent would include spending on new Dreadnought submarines, a new sovereign warhead and 12 F35-A jets capable of carry nuclear weapons.
The new Dreadnought submarines will see four boats replace the current Vanguard class from the 2030s, while Sir Keir announced plans to buy nuclear-capable jets at last year’s Nato summit in The Hague.
Some of the money for the nuclear deterrent will also form part of a decade-long £26 billion overhaul of naval bases at Faslane, Portsmouth and Devonport, dubbed “Project Royal Oak”.
“The SDR made clear that a modernised nuclear deterrent is essential for the defence of the UK.
It underpins our security in a new nuclear age and worsening security environment, characterised by Russia’s aggression, China’s nuclear expansion, and North Korea’s destabilising weapons programme”, the DIP says.
“As one of only three nuclear powers in NATO, the UK provides the ultimate guarantee of security for itself and its NATO allies. We are the only European nation which declares our nuclear deterrent to NATO.”
£330m investment in critical underwater infrastructure
The MoD will invest £330m into critical underwater infrastructure protection to tackle hostile activity in and around UK waters, as well as spending an additional £1.5bn over the next four years on Atlantic Bastion, the Royal Navy’s plan to secure the North Atlantic for the UK and NATO against the “persistent and growing underwater threat from a modernising Russian submarine force.”
Launched in December 2025, Atlantic Bastion creates an “advanced hybrid naval force to defend the UK and NATO allies against evolving threats”.
The extra £1.5bn in funding will “enable the UK to find, track and, if required, act against adversaries with unprecedented effectiveness across vast areas of ocean”, the DIP said.
It comes after the UK responded to “increased Russian activity” near crucial UK cables and pipelines in the Atlantic north of Britain in April this year.
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