# ESSAY: The United Kingdom reinvents its army around Ukraine's lessons — £300 billion at stake

> On June 30, 2026, Keir Starmer traveled to a drone factory in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to present what he described as a "record

- Author: Maxime Marquette
- Publisher: MadMax (https://mad-max.co)
- Section: Essay
- Published: 2026-07-01
- Canonical URL: https://mad-max.co/en/article/essai-le-royaume-uni-reinvente-son-armee-autour-des-lecons-d-ukraine-300-milliar

## Introduction: A plan signed on the eve of a departure

### June 30, 2026 and what it means

On **June 30, 2026**, **Keir Starmer** traveled to a drone factory in **Maidenhead**, **Berkshire**, to present what he described as a "record investment" in British defense. The **Defence Investment Plan** allocates **nearly 300 billion pounds sterling** (**approximately 397 billion US dollars**) over the **next four years**, with a further increase of **15 billion pounds** beyond previous commitments. The outgoing prime minister — he had announced his resignation as **Labour Party** leader on **June 22, 2026** — presented this plan as his "**legacy**" and as a direct response to lessons drawn from the war in **Ukraine**.

The symbolism is powerful: a prime minister leaving the political stage signs one of the most significant military transformations in the **United Kingdom** since the **end of the Cold War**. This gesture is not insignificant. It reflects an understanding — shared by British military chiefs, **NATO** allies, and European governments — that the window for re-equipping Western armies before a potential confrontation with **Russia** is limited. The unofficial deadline cited by British military intelligence: **2030**.

*A prime minister signing a historic defense plan in the same month he announces his resignation — the scene says something about the state of British politics. But it also says something important: some decisions transcend electoral cycles. The rearmament of the United Kingdom is one of them. And that, whatever one thinks of Starmer, is a decision history will assess separately from his political performance.*

## The plan's figures: what £300 billion means in concrete terms

### From £54 billion to £80 billion per year: a progressive scaling-up

The figures put forward by the British government deserve context. Before the **Starmer** government came to power, the **United Kingdom** devoted **54 billion pounds per year** to defense. The plan presented on **June 30, 2026** raises that figure to **nearly 80 billion pounds per year by 2029**, a real-terms increase of **27%**. As a share of **GDP**, that represents a rise from **2.3% in 2024** to **2.7%**, with a stated objective of **3% in the next parliament** and a trajectory toward **5% of GDP devoted to broader security** by **2035**.

### The £50 billion export facility and the industrial strategy

Chancellor **Rachel Reeves** described this level of spending as "the highest since the Cold War." The plan also includes the creation of a **£50 billion defense export facility** — the largest ever created by the British government — to help British defense companies win international markets. This economic dimension is explicitly built into the plan's logic: defense as a driver of industrial growth, capable of creating **60,000 direct and indirect jobs** in the defense sector by the end of the decade.

*I read these figures and think of the debates that preceded this plan: weeks of cabinet quarrels, a £28 billion funding gap that military chiefs were demanding, a chancellor who resisted, a prime minister arbitrating between the two. The result — £15 billion extra — is less than what the Ministry of Defence requested. It is a partial victory. But compared to nothing, it is still a change of course.*

## Drones as backbone: £5 billion for the transformation

### The largest British drone investment in history

The flagship piece of the plan — and the most directly inspired by the war in **Ukraine** — is the investment of **more than £5 billion** over four years in drones and autonomous systems. **Starmer** described this outlay as "**the largest British investment in history in this technology**." **Armed Forces Minister Dan Jarvis** was even more direct: autonomous systems, he said, "will provide the advantage." That sentence encapsulates the entire philosophy of the plan: future wars will not be won by numerical superiority in personnel and armored vehicles, but by mastery of **uncrewed systems**, **artificial intelligence**, and **autonomous precision strikes**.

### Tactical drones, swarms, autonomous vessels: the diversity of systems

The investment range is broad: from tactical reconnaissance drones of the **quadcopter** type for infantry, to long-range strike drones, to low-cost "**kamikaze drones**" — precisely the model that proved decisive on the Ukrainian front. The plan also includes **uncrewed naval vessels** to compose a "hybrid Navy," autonomous combat aircraft flying as escorts for **Typhoons**, and the creation of an **Uncrewed Systems Centre** at **Swindon** — the largest drone testing center in **Europe**.

*I look at this list and think of Ukraine in 2022, when Turkish Bayraktar drones were still a novelty within reach of only a handful of armies. In four years, the drone has become the reference doctrine. The United Kingdom is acknowledging that revolution — with delay, but with significant scale. The question that remains open: can British industry deliver on time?*

## Ukraine's lessons integrated into doctrine

### What the Donbas taught London's military planners

The **Defence Investment Plan** is explicitly presented by the British government as incorporating the "**lessons of the war in Ukraine**." These lessons are precise and documented. The first: **high-intensity warfare consumes ammunition at a pace that Western democracies had not anticipated**. In **Ukraine**, thousands of shells were fired per day — a rate that exhausted most **NATO** members' stocks within weeks of providing support. The British plan therefore includes a massive reinforcement of ammunition stockpiles, the construction of new production facilities on British soil, and an increase in annual production capacity.

### Electronic warfare, cyber, and permanent adaptation as doctrine

The second lesson: **electronic and jamming warfare** is as important as kinetic strikes. **Ukrainian drones** were jammed, hijacked, and neutralized by Russian electronic systems — and responded by adapting their protocols in real time. This constant war of adaptation revealed the crucial importance of **electronic resilience**, software updates in operational conditions, and the ability to rapidly integrate new countermeasures. The British plan integrates these priorities in its investments in **cyber defense**, **electronic warfare**, and **artificial intelligence applied to combat**.

*The most uncomfortable lesson Ukraine gave the West is this one: our weapons stocks are not calibrated for a prolonged high-intensity war. That is not a question of money — it is a question of doctrine. We planned for short interventions, technologically superior. We had not planned for four years of stabilized front with millions of shells fired. The United Kingdom is finally acknowledging that reality. Two years late, perhaps. But better now than never.*

## The hybrid Navy: toward an uncrewed fleet

### Replacing Type 45 destroyers with autonomous vessels

One of the boldest — and most controversial — decisions in the plan concerns the **Royal Navy**. The government cancels the planned replacement of the fleet of **Type 45 destroyers** based at **Portsmouth**. Instead, it invests in **six new Common Combat Vessels** designed to coordinate uncrewed systems on the surface, in the air, and underwater. These vessels will be capable of deploying **mine-countermeasure drones**, autonomous reconnaissance submarines, and aerial defense drones. The hybrid Navy envisioned by the plan represents a conceptual break: the warship of the future as a **command hub for an uncrewed fleet**, rather than as an autonomous weapons platform.

### The Black Sea lesson: the Moskva and the end of tonnage-based superiority

This vision responds directly to what naval commanders observed in the **Black Sea** since **2022**: relatively inexpensive Ukrainian naval drones neutralized far costlier Russian vessels, including the flagship **Moskva**, sunk in **April 2022**. Naval superiority can no longer rest on tonnage alone. It must integrate distributed resilience, stealth, and the ability to saturate enemy defenses with swarms of autonomous systems. The British plan sets the direction. Delivery, as always, will be the real test.

*The Moskva at the bottom of the Black Sea, sunk by two Neptune missiles and Ukrainian surface drones — that image became the most powerful argument for reassessing Western naval doctrine. The United Kingdom has taken it on board. This is not an academic luxury: it is a survival update for a navy that will have to hold its own against Russia in the North Atlantic if things deteriorate.*

## Nuclear deterrence: £64 billion to renew the shield

### Dreadnought submarines and nuclear F-35A aircraft

The investment plan confirms and precisely quantifies the **British nuclear deterrence renewal programme**: **£64 billion** to build a new generation of **Dreadnought submarines**, develop a **new sovereign warhead system**, and acquire **12 F-35A aircraft** capable of carrying nuclear weapons. This programme, which includes a major renovation of the **Aldermaston** and **Burghfield** sites (the **Atomic Weapons Establishment** facilities), creates some **9,000 direct jobs** and thousands more across supply chains.

### Nuclear F-35As: a security guarantee against potential Washington disengagement

The decision to purchase **F-35As** — the land-based variant, capable of carrying **NATO** nuclear weapons, distinct from the short-takeoff **F-35Bs** already used by the **Royal Air Force** — had been announced at the **NATO summit** in **The Hague in 2025**. It is here confirmed in budgetary terms. This decision reflects a logic of nuclear credibility: the **United Kingdom** wants to ensure its deterrence is robust not only against **Russia**, but also in a context where the American nuclear commitment might be less automatic under a **Trump** presidency.

*The nuclear F-35A is the United Kingdom saying: "If Washington wavers, London must be able to hold alone." That is not a break with the Atlantic alliance — it is an insurance policy. Since Trump called into question the automaticity of NATO's Article 5, that insurance policy has become a strategic necessity, not a luxury. And Europeans have understood it — even if many have yet to say so clearly.*

## The combat aircraft of the future: £8.6 billion for Tempest-GCAP

### A sixth-generation fighter with Italy and Japan

The plan confirms an investment of **£8.6 billion** for the **Global Combat Air Programme** (**GCAP**) — the development of a **sixth-generation** stealth fighter in partnership with **Italy** and **Japan**. This programme, known as **Tempest** on the British side, aims to replace the **Eurofighter Typhoon** in the **2030–2040** timeframe. It represents one of the most ambitious and costly military industrial projects ever undertaken by the **United Kingdom**, with direct economic benefits in the aerospace sector and at production sites across the country.

### Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom: when threats converge, alliances widen

The geopolitical dimension of this partnership is notable: linking **Japan** to a European military programme — even though the **United Kingdom** has left the **European Union** — reflects the growing convergence between the security challenges of **Europe** and the **Asia-Pacific** in the face of the same actors: **Russia**, **China**, **North Korea**. The **CRINK axis** creates a logic of democratic solidarity that transcends traditional geographic blocs. **Tokyo**, **Rome**, and **London** share not only an industrial interest, but a common threat assessment.

*A combat aircraft built in partnership with Japan. Five years ago, that sentence would have surprised. Today, it reflects the geopolitical logic of a world where peaceful democracies and Atlantic democracies face the same coordinated autocrats. That is good news in a bleak picture: alliances are broadening where threats converge.*

## The critics: a plan that falls short, according to military chiefs

### A £28 billion gap acknowledged but not filled

The **Defence Investment Plan** was received with significant reservations by British military chiefs and analysts. General **Barrons**, former commander-in-chief of British joint forces, publicly noted that the **£15 billion extra** falls short of the **£28 billion** the Ministry of Defence had identified as needed to address the most urgent gaps. The direct consequence: some equipment will not be procured, others will be delayed, and cuts will be made to training, infrastructure maintenance, and logistics — critical but low-profile areas.

### The repackaging of announcements: the gap between political messaging and reality

The **Daily Telegraph** highlighted a particularly embarrassing contradiction in **Starmer's** announcements: the **£5 billion drone investment** includes a **2025** announcement that already covered "more than £4 billion for autonomous systems." In other words, less than one billion pounds of genuinely new money is being injected into drones. This type of repackaging of existing announcements is common political practice — but it underscores that the "records" announced merit a critical reading of the budget's fine print.

*I do not want to be ungrateful toward a real effort. £300 billion over four years is a serious figure. But £15 billion extra when £28 billion was requested is a half-measure. And in defense, a half-measure has concrete consequences for equipment availability, soldier training, and base maintenance. Military chiefs are not complaining on principle — they are calculating what they can do with what they are given. And they know it is not yet enough.*

## The "European NATO" vision: Europe's strategic autonomy

### Starmer positions the United Kingdom at the center of an autonomous European defense

A central element of the plan extends beyond the strictly national framework: **Starmer** explicitly evoked his ambition to strengthen European strategic autonomy in defense. The plan includes investments in partnership with **Germany** in "**deep precision strike weapons**" — long-range missiles — and coordination mechanisms with European **NATO** partners. The underlying idea: if the **Trump** presidency maintains pressure on European **NATO** allies to assume more of their own defense, the **United Kingdom** — though outside the **European Union** — intends to play a pivotal role between American capabilities and European needs.

### The message at the Ankara summit: the British example as a signal to allies

This vision of a "**more autonomous European NATO**" is presented not as an alternative to the Atlantic Alliance, but as its reinforcement. The plan will be presented at the **NATO summit in Ankara** on **July 7 and 8, 2026**, as a British contribution to the debate on new Alliance spending targets. The implicit message: the **United Kingdom** is leading by example on spending commitments, and expects the same from its allies.

*There is something slightly ironic about the United Kingdom — which left the European Union partly to reclaim its "strategic independence" — now being the one calling for greater collective European defense autonomy. But the irony does not diminish the relevance of the position. Brexit did not make the United Kingdom less European in its security interests. It just left it more alone in defending them.*

## The army: "ten times more lethal" with drone swarms

### The transformation of British land forces

The plan also dedicates significant investments to the **modernization of the army**. The stated objective, drawn from the **2025 Strategic Defence Review**: an army "**ten times more lethal**," combining more personnel, reinforced armored capabilities, air defense systems, advanced communications, artificial intelligence, long-range weapons, and "**drone swarms**." The **Commando Force** will receive next-generation **fast boats** and the latest drone and autonomous system technologies. The objective is an army of **100,000 soldiers**, including **73,000 regulars**.

### General Walker's warning: "ready for war by 2027"

These figures directly reflect Ukrainian lessons: the ability to hold an extended front requires personnel, stocks, and tactical flexibility that the reduced professional armies of the post-Cold War decades no longer provide. **General Roland Walker**, Chief of the General Staff, had publicly warned in **2025** that the **United Kingdom** needed to be "ready for war by **2027**." The **Starmer plan** partially responds to that warning — with delivery timelines and available budgets as the main constraint.

*An army "ten times more lethal" is a political phrase. It deserves translation: more personnel, more ammunition, more drones, more training, better infrastructure. That is not spectacular to announce. But it is what the war in Ukraine reveals as priorities. I would rather have an army ten times better stocked with shells than an army with a brilliant new doctrine but empty stockpiles.*

## Jobs and industry: defense as industrial policy

### Sixty thousand jobs promised by 2030

The British government explicitly presented the **Defence Investment Plan** not only as a response to security threats, but also as **industrial policy**. The argument: investments in defense — new ammunition factories, drone development, submarine programme, combat aircraft programme — create skilled jobs in the country's industrial regions, support technology SMEs, and strengthen the sovereign industrial base that is itself a strategic resource. The government's estimate: **60,000 direct and indirect jobs** in the defense sector by the end of the decade.

### BAE Systems, drone SMEs and cybersecurity: the British defense economy

This dual logic — national security and economic growth — is not new in the defense plans of industrial democracies. It is, however, particularly openly embraced in this British plan, which creates a **£50 billion export facility** within **UK Export Finance** to allow British defense companies of all sizes to access strongly growing international markets. Defense as a **premium export**: **BAE Systems**, **Rolls-Royce**, and hundreds of SMEs specializing in drones or cybersecurity could benefit from this lever.

*Defense as industrial policy — I understand the argument. But I remain alert to the temptation to justify military spending by its economic returns rather than the actual threat. Those are two different logics. The correct argument for rearming the United Kingdom is that Russia threatens Europe, not that it creates jobs in the Midlands. Both can be true. But the order of priority matters.*

## The Ukraine dimension: a grateful debtor returning the lesson

### Kyiv as a source of military doctrine for the West

There is a symbolically powerful dimension in the fact that the **United Kingdom** explicitly presents its defense plan as based on "**lessons from Ukraine**." Since **2022**, it is the reverse of the usual relationship that has imposed itself: it is Ukrainian soldiers and engineers who developed, adapted, and tested in real conditions the doctrines of modern warfare — drone warfare, multi-layered anti-missile defense, electronic saturation — that Western democracies had not had to practice for decades. This Ukrainian expertise now irrigates the defense plans of **London**, **Paris**, **Berlin**, and **Warsaw**.

### The West's strategic debt to Kyiv

**United24 Media**, close to the Ukrainian government, covered the British plan presentation by emphasizing that the **United Kingdom** "rebuilds its armed forces around the lessons of the war in Ukraine." That framing is not propagandistic: it is factually accurate. And it says something important about the strategic value of what **Ukraine** has defended since **2022** — not only for itself, but for the security architecture of all Western democracy.

*I think we do not say clearly enough this fact: Ukraine is the West's military laboratory. It pays for that role in its own flesh. British, German, and Polish defense plans — all draw lessons that Ukrainian soldiers have written in blood. This intellectual and strategic debt must translate into continued, unconditional support, commensurate with what Kyiv contributes to our collective security.*

## What the plan does not say: uncertainties and risks

### Partial funding and political dependency

Every defense plan is also a political act. **Chancellor Reeves** accepted the **£15 billion extra** at the cost of cuts in other departments — roughly **1%** of their capital budgets. This decision created tensions within the cabinet and could politically weaken **Starmer's** successor, who will have to own these trade-offs without having set the terms. The continuity of commitment is therefore an open question: a new prime minister, facing different budgetary and political pressures, could revisit the commitments announced on **June 30, 2026**.

### Precedents: announced programmes that did not survive budget revisions

Britain's historical experience with defense plans is mixed. Ambitiously announced programmes have been reduced, delayed, or canceled in subsequent budget reviews. The **Queen Elizabeth carrier** programme went through decades of hesitation before coming to fruition. Ammunition programmes were regularly under-funded. The **Starmer Plan** is not immune to these structural risks. It represents a direction — but direction alone is not enough if it is not followed by budget discipline and political will that only the future will tell whether they are maintained.

*I know what it looks like when a government announces billions for defense and the money evaporates in subsequent budget revisions. The United Kingdom has lived through it more than once since the end of the Cold War. What is different today is that the threat is named, dated, and localized. If that is not enough to maintain the course, I do not know what will be.*

## The NATO context: Ankara 2026 and pressure on allies

### The United Kingdom arrives at the summit with figures, not just speeches

The British **Defence Investment Plan** arrives at an opportune moment for the **NATO summit in Ankara** on **July 7 and 8, 2026**. At the Alliance's previous summit in **The Hague in 2025**, members had committed to devoting **3.5% of their GDP to defense by 2035**. The **United Kingdom** arrives in **Ankara** with a quantified trajectory — **2.7% of GDP in 2026**, a trajectory toward **3% in the next parliament**, and the objective of **5% of GDP devoted to broader security by 2035**. That is not yet the target reached, but it is a documented direction backed by real investments.

**Donald Trump's** pressure on **NATO** allies to raise defense spending to **5% of GDP** has transformed the Alliance's internal dynamics. Countries like **Poland**, the **Baltic states**, **Finland**, and **Sweden** have already far exceeded the old **2%** targets. **Germany** launched its own massive rearmament programme in **2025**. The **United Kingdom** cannot afford to stand apart from this dynamic without undermining its credibility as a "western pillar of NATO." **Starmer's** plan responds to that collective pressure as much as to the direct Russian threat.

*Trump may have been the involuntary catalyst for the fastest European rearmament since the 1930s. By calling into question the American guarantee, he forced democracies that had been sleeping under the American umbrella to ask the real question: "What if we had to defend ourselves alone?" The answer, hesitant but real, is being written in defense plans across Europe. That is an irony of history. It is nonetheless a necessity.*

### Democratic solidarity as operational doctrine

Beyond the figures and programmes, what the British plan articulates is a strategic philosophy: the security of democracies is indivisible. The **war in Ukraine** is not a localized conflict — it is the first test of the resistance of the rules-based international order against an armed revisionist power. If that order yields in **Eastern Europe**, it yields everywhere. If **Russia** wins in **Ukraine**, the calculations of **China** on **Taiwan**, of **Iran** on its neighbors, of **North Korea** on the Korean peninsula — all those calculations change.

This democratic solidarity must be operational — not merely rhetorical. The **Defence Investment Plan** is a contribution to that operationalization. It says, with billions in commitment, that **London** is serious. That the lessons of **Ukraine** have been heard. And that democracy has decided to invest in its own survival rather than count on luck or the restraint of its adversaries. **Zelensky** said it from the beginning: the war in **Ukraine** is the war of all democracy. The British plan is a concrete acknowledgment of that.

## Conclusion: A necessary, belated, but real plan

### What the United Kingdom sends as a signal to NATO and Russia

The **United Kingdom's Defence Investment Plan**, presented on **June 30, 2026** by **Keir Starmer**, is imperfect. It does not reach the **£28 billion** military chiefs estimated as necessary. It contains announcements that recycle old promises. It will have to survive a change of government to become reality. But it exists. And its existence — its quantified ambition, its clear strategic direction, its grounding in the concrete lessons of the war in **Ukraine** — represents a real signal sent to two audiences simultaneously.

*A historic plan signed by a departing prime minister — the irony does not diminish the necessity. What Starmer announced on June 30, 2026 must be honored by his successor. The real question is not what was signed. It is what will be delivered by 2030, when the United Kingdom will need to show that the billions promised have been converted into real capabilities.*

To **Moscow**, that signal says: democracies do not disarm. They learn. They reinvest. The Russian strategy of counting on Western exhaustion — the bet that democracies will abandon **Ukraine** and retreat into themselves — runs up against a reality moving in the opposite direction. To its **NATO** allies, the signal is equally clear: the **United Kingdom** is leading by example, and it will be at the **Ankara summit** with figures to show, not just speeches. This dual signal does not resolve the European security crisis. But it contributes to it. And in the current context, that is more than symbolic.

**By Maxime Marquette, columnist**

## Columnist's transparency note

### Editorial stance

I am not a journalist but a **columnist and analyst**. My expertise lies in observing and analysing the geopolitical, economic and strategic dynamics that shape our world. My work is to take political strategies apart, to understand global economic movements, to put the decisions of international actors in context and to offer analytical perspectives on the changes that are redefining our societies.

I do not claim the cold objectivity of traditional journalism, which stops at reporting facts. **I claim analytical clarity**, rigorous interpretation and a deep understanding of the complex issues that concern us all. My role is to give meaning to the facts, to place them in their historical and strategic context, and to offer a critical reading of events.

### Method and sources

This text keeps the basic distinction between **verified facts and interpretive analysis**. The rule never changes: a factual claim is published only when a verifiable source supports it, and the sources this article actually used are listed under **Sources**, never here.

**Primary source families** used by the publication, when the story has them: official statements from governments and international institutions, public statements by political leaders, reports from intergovernmental organisations, dispatches from recognised international news agencies.

**Secondary source families**: specialised publications, internationally recognised news media, analyses from established research institutions, reports from industry organisations.

When an article cites statistical, economic or geopolitical data, it comes from the institutions that produce it (intergovernmental organisations, central banks, national statistics offices), and the exact institution is named under **Sources**.

### Nature of the analysis

The analyses, interpretations and perspectives in the analytical sections of this article are a **critical, contextual synthesis** based on the information available, the trends observed and the expert comments cited in the sources consulted.

My role is to interpret these facts, to set them in the context of today's geopolitical and economic dynamics, and to give them a coherent meaning within the larger story of the changes shaping our time. These analyses reflect expertise built through continuous observation of international affairs and an understanding of the strategic mechanisms that drive global actors.

This article describes a documented state of affairs on its publication date, not a prediction: later developments may shift its outlook. No update is promised in advance; when an article is corrected or completed, the change is dated in the text.

## Sources

### Primary sources

- [GOV.UK — Keir Starmer's speech announcing the Defence Investment Plan — June 30, 2026](https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-announcing-the-defence-investment-plan-30-june-2026)

- [GOV.UK — UK drone transformation backed by more than £5 billion — June 29, 2026](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-drone-transformation-to-strengthen-armed-forces-backed-by-more-than-5-billion)

- [Kyiv Independent — UK unveils landmark defense plan incorporating lessons from Ukraine — June 30, 2026](https://kyivindependent.com/uk-unveils-landmark-defense-plan-incorporating-lessons-from-ukraine/)

- [United24 Media — UK rebuilds armed forces around Ukraine's war lessons — June 30, 2026](https://united24media.com/world/uk-rebuilds-armed-forces-around-ukraines-war-lessons-in-major-defense-shake-up-20297)

### Secondary sources

- [MarketScreener UK — Starmer boosts budget to modernise UK military before exit — June 30, 2026](https://uk.marketscreener.com/news/starmer-boosts-budget-to-modernise-uk-military-before-exit-ce7f5fdcdf8af221)

- [Euronews — Starmer sets out to strengthen UK and European defence — June 30, 2026](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/06/30/starmer-sets-out-to-strengthen-uk-and-european-defence-with-cash-for-drones-and-ai-systems)

- [BBC News — Defence plan is 'next big evolution' for navy — June 30, 2026](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c04y3lv2wn7o)

- [Reuters — UK's long-awaited defence plan allocates £5 billion for drones — June 29, 2026](https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/uks-long-awaited-defence-plan-allocates-5-billion-drones-2026-06-29/)

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Source: Maxime Marquette, MadMax. When citing, name the author and link https://mad-max.co/en/article/essai-le-royaume-uni-reinvente-son-armee-autour-des-lecons-d-ukraine-300-milliar