Source · Select Committees · Defence Committee
Recommendation 1
1
Accepted
Defence capabilities against increasingly severe grey zone threats remain significantly limited.
Conclusion
Defence has a significant role in deterring and defending against grey zone threats, especially those of a more severe nature, including attacks on critical national infrastructure such as undersea data cables and energy pipelines. Despite an increase in the frequency and severity of these attacks, the armed forces have limited existing capabilities focused on combatting grey zone threats but can enhance them, including through better coordination between different groups involved in information operations to increase their overall effectiveness. (Conclusion, Paragraph 32)
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and is taking specific actions, including strengthening home defence and resilience through the SDR, working with the Cabinet Office on infrastructure protection, exploring a Defence Readiness Bill and a new Reserve Force, and enhancing cyber capabilities via Defence Digital, the National Cyber Force, and the new Cyber and Specialist Operations Command.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
We agree with this conclusion and recommendation. The SDR and NSS both highlight the increasing threat to the UK of activities in the ‘grey zone’ and the need for the Government and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to respond to this. The focus of the SDR is to transform Defence into an organisation ready for warfighting to ensure effective deterrence, which includes a renewed emphasis on home defence and resilience to grey zone threats. The MOD is working to take forward the specific recommendations of the SDR on home defence and resilience, ensuring the UK’s critical national infrastructure, including undersea data cables and pipelines, is protected from attack. We are working with the Cabinet Office to set and enforce robust standards of protection and resilience for infrastructure, and to define and prioritise the critical national infrastructure on which Defence and wider Government relies. This includes work to strengthen Government powers where necessary through a Defence Readiness Bill, and to strengthen protection of critical national infrastructure in partnership with private-sector and allied operators, possibly including a new Reserve Force for this purpose. In particular, the SDR stressed the need to respond to grey zone threats and seize opportunities in cyberspace and the electromagnetic spectrum. This includes strengthening the defensive capabilities provided by Defence Digital and establishing the National Cyber Force in partnership with UK intelligence agencies to deliver offensive cyber operations in support of military operations and UK national security. These capabilities will be further strengthened through continued investment and initiatives to improve coherence such as the establishment of the new Cyber and Specialist Operations Command (CSOC).