UK's delayed defence plan puts focus on drones, critics say it falls short on cash

By Sarah Young and Elizabeth Piper Tue, June 30, 2026 at 9:26 AM UTC

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By Sarah Young and Elizabeth Piper

LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) - Britain will unveil its long-delayed Defence Investment Plan on Tuesday, prioritising £5 billion of investment in drones and a focus on autonomous systems, to try to modernise and build up its depleted armed forces at a time of rising threats.

The blueprint had faced last-minute wrangling after former defence minister John Healey resigned earlier this month, accusing Prime Minister Keir Starmer of being unable to raise the finances needed to keep the country safe.

But hours before the plan was due to be published in full, critics said the package was not large enough to make Britain war-ready, especially when military officials have warned that Russia could attack a NATO country as soon as 2030.

General Richard Barrons, formerly commander of the Joint Forces Command, said while the plan represented progress, Britain would be left exposed.

"It is still not going to crack the issue of, in order to defend the UK sufficiently well, sufficiently quickly, more has to be done sooner, and that requires more money than is currently on the table," he told BBC Radio.

Defence chiefs have said there is a £28 billion funding gap over the next four years, and local media reported that £15 billion would be made available by the plan, with no date given for when defence spending would hit a target of 3% of national income, up from the 2.6% expected in 2027/8.

Barrons said that deficit meant some equipment would not be bought or would be delayed, and corners would be cut on spending on training, infrastructure maintenance and logistics.

Starmer's plan will focus on attack drones, autonomous fighter jets and uncrewed ships and submarines, favouring technology over warships to reflect the reality of modern warfare as seen in Ukraine.

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The government said on Sunday it would scrap plans to replace its ageing destroyers and instead procure at least six combat vessels to serve as control hubs for uncrewed systems.

Britain, which until World War Two had the largest navy in the world, was criticised by the United States in March, when the Royal Navy was unable to send a warship to the Middle East or respond swiftly to a drone strike on its air base in Cyprus.

The investment plan is likely to be Starmer's final policy announcement, as he said earlier in June he would quit. He is likely to be replaced in July by Labour lawmaker Andy Burnham, who may want to reconsider the blueprint.

Britain's new defence minister, Dan Jarvis, a former British Army major, said uncrewed systems were defining modern warfare, and the DIP he has helped reshape in recent weeks would ensure soldiers got the technology they needed faster.

Ukraine uses 200,000 drones a month in its war against Russia, and innovations happen within weeks, not the years taken to develop the large platforms that have been the main feature of British security in the post-Cold War era.

The nine-month delay in publishing the plan has stymied investment in what should be a boom industry, companies say, and has led to some private criticism abroad as to whether Britain was either willing or able to boost defence spending.

Starmer will attend the NATO summit in Ankara from July 7 to 8, alongside U.S. President Donald Trump and dozens of other leaders of alliance members, at a time when Europe is trying to come to terms with the U.S. pivot away from protecting it.

The UK manager of U.S.-headquartered drone maker Anduril said it could now build a factory in Britain, but he was interested in how quickly contracts would start to flow.

"The detail of what the numbers actually are between each of the programmes, and when they wish to spend it ...those details now really matter," Anduril's Rich Drake told BBC Radio.

(Reporting by Sarah Young and Elizabeth Piper, Editing by William Maclean and Alex Richardson)

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