Recommendation 19

HM Government Accepted

The Government agrees with the Committee’s assertion that the full-scale invasion of Ukraine has fundamentally changed the threat. In the last two years, the world has changed–geopolitically, technologically, economically. The threats and challenges we face have evolved. An environment of global competition has shifted to one of contestation. That is why the update to the Defence Command Paper in 2023 underlined Defence’s two clear ambitions: to protect the nation and help it prosper. To compete effectively against the threats and adversaries facing the UK, Defence must be optimised to fight, whilst able to operate in lower-intensity scenarios. That is why the Department is embedding a sustained, campaigning approach that keeps pace with the evolving threat context. In line with the IRR, this means ‘think long-term; act now’. The UK, our territories and our Allies and partners depend on us to provide the first and last line of defence. Our Armed Forces continue to meet all their operational commitments, including participating in every single NATO mission, supporting Ukraine, and tackling Houthi shipping attacks in the Red Sea. The lessons that Defence is learning from Ukraine have led to a re-evaluation of our assumptions around capabilities and readiness. The £1.95bn for resilience and readiness will be spent in full on measures to address gaps in our capabilities. That is not just about new investments and new equipment. It will also be used to address long standing challenges across the defence programme, which will make us better able to respond to the threats of today and tomorrow. We must address the totality of this from within the funding provided to us at the Spring Budget 23. The Euro-Atlantic remains the UK’s priority theatre of focus. NATO will remain the cornerstone of UK security. The UK has committed almost all our Armed Forces and military capabilities to NATO under the new NATO Force Model–our strongest ever force commitment to the Alliance. 20,000 service personnel from the Royal Navy, the British Army, and the Royal Air Force have deployed across Europe to take part in Exercise Steadfast Defender 24. The Royal Navy has now deployed nine warships and more than 2,000 sailors. 16,000 troops from the British Army will be deployed across eastern Europe from February to June 2024, taking with them tanks, artillery, helicopters, and parachutes. The RAF will be making use of some of its most cutting-edge aircraft, including F35B Lightning attack aircraft and Poseidon P8 surveillance aircraft. Our strategic resilience draws also from our ability to mobilise at scale our military resources in a time of crisis in response to threats to our homeland. Our Reserves, with specialist skills and unique connections, will be at the heart of this effort, forming the core of the second- and third echelon forces that will reinforce and sustain warfighting capabilities and protect the homeland. The Strategic Reserve–built around the ex-regular reserve forces–will add further depth of capability, able to generate previously unassigned surge capacity and wider access to expertise in time of crisis or national emergencies. On Civil Contingencies, the UK’s Armed Forces continue to form an integral part of the Government’s effort to counter the threat from terrorism and other emergent crises–at home as well as overseas. We will continue to support the civil authorities more generally and will hold forces at high levels of readiness to respond to a wide range of national events and crises.