United Kingdom commits billions to modernise nuclear forces and expand drone capabilities

The British government has announced a £63 billion (about €73.5 billion) investment over the next four years to modernise its nuclear deterrent. The programme includes the development of the new Astraea warhead, the construction of SSN‑AUKUS attack submarines, Dreadnought‑class ballistic‑missile‑launch ships and the purchase of 12 F‑35A aircraft to re‑enter NATO’s nuclear‑sharing arrangement.

As part of the broader £298 billion Defence Investment Plan, a £5 billion taskforce will accelerate the deployment of drones and autonomous weapons. It aims to address a shortfall of roughly 10,000 British drones compared with the hundreds of thousands used by Ukraine, by adding 24 armed drones for the Army, new first‑person‑view strike drones, unmanned ground vehicles and a new class of smaller warships to command maritime drone fleets. The plan states it will "bring together people, data, and machines to solve real operational problems quickly, at scale, and at lower cost."