Britain Reorders Its Military Around Drones and Autonomy

Britain laid out a defense plan built around uncrewed and autonomous systems, the South China Morning Post reported. The plan prioritizes more than £5 billion, about $6.6 billion, for drones and a force that mixes crewed and uncrewed vessels, alongside extra-large uncrewed submarines and a program to develop autonomous fighter jets that fly alongside piloted aircraft.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves framed the package in economic terms, telling reporters, in an account carried by Russia's TASS, that Britain would raise defense investment by about $19.8 billion and that national security means economic security. The government has set a target of spending 3% of national income on defense in the next parliament, conditions permitting.

The plan reflects two forces at once. Warfare is being reshaped by cheap, expendable drones, a lesson taken directly from the war in Ukraine, and European states are rebuilding their own capabilities as the United States accelerates its military drawdown from the continent. Britain's emphasis on autonomy is partly a response to budgets that cannot fund large crewed fleets at the scale earlier eras assumed.