More than £1bn earmarked for battlefield tech
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) will spend more than £1bn to develop technology to speed up decisions on the battlefield.
The funding will be one of the results of the government's long-awaited strategic defence review which is due to be published in full on Monday.
The government has committed to raising defence spending to 2.5% GDP from April 2027 with an ambition to increase that to 3% in the next parliament.
In February, the prime minister said cuts to the foreign aid budget would be used to fund the military boost.
Announcing the results of the review, the MoD said a new Digital Targeting Web would better connect soldiers on the ground with key information provided by satellites, aircraft and drones helping them target enemy threats faster.
Defence Secretary John Healey said the technology announced in the review - which will harness Artificial Intelligence (AI) and software - also highlights lessons being learnt from the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine is already using AI and software to speed up the process of identifying, and then hitting, Russian military targets.
The review had been commissioned by the newly formed Labour government shortly after last year's election with Healey describing it as the "first of its kind".
The government said the findings would be published in the first half of 2025, but did not give an exact date.
Healey made the announcement on a visit to the MoD's cyber headquarters in Corsham, Wiltshire.
The headquarters is where the UK military co-ordinates their cyber activities to both prevent and to carry out cyber-attacks.
Defence officials said over the last two years the UK's military had faced more than 90,000 cyber-attacks by potential adversaries.
Attacks have been on the rise, as has their level of sophistication, they added.
Staff at Corsham said they had recently helped identify and block malware sent to UK military personnel who recently returned from working abroad.
They said the source of the malware was from a "known Russian actor".
Both Russia and China have been linked to the increase in cyber-attacks.
Defence officials have confirmed that the UK military has also been conducting its own offensive cyber-attacks.
Healey said it showed the nature of warfare was changing.
"The keyboard is now a weapon of war and we are responding to that," he said.
He said the UK needed to be the fastest-innovating military within the Nato alliance.
As part of the strategic defence review, the UK's military cyber operations will be overseen by a new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command.
The MoD said the Command would also take the lead in electronic warfare, from co-ordinating efforts to intercept any adversaries communications, to jamming drones.
Healey said the extra investment being made was possible because of the government's "historic commitment" to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027.
However, the Nato Secretary-General, Mark Rutte, is calling on allies to increase defence spending by more than 3.5% of GDP.
The terrifying new weapon changing the war in Ukraine
'It's going to be ugly': Westminster braces for Spending Review
UK announces further £450m military support to Ukraine
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
30 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Russia to attend fresh talks as Ukraine demands peace proposals
Russia said it's sending a delegation to Istanbul Monday for a second round of talks with Ukraine amid last-minute wrangling over Kyiv's insistence that Moscow outline its peace proposals before any meeting. The warring sides have tussled over the parameters of negotiations after Turkey hosted the first direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine since the early months of the war on May 16. Moscow didn't accept a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire and used the meeting to repeat its maximalist demands to end its invasion, now in its fourth year. 'Both memorandums, the Russian and Ukrainian ones, as we hope, will be discussed in the second round of talks,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday, the state news service Tass reported. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv is in favor of pushing forward with negotiations, but has been awaiting a memorandum from Moscow laying out its position before a follow-up meeting takes place - a position the Kremlin said was 'unconstructive.' 'We want to finish this war this year,' Sybiha told reporters in Kyiv, adding that he's open to a ceasefire of varying durations that must precede full talks on a last peace. 'Ukraine is open to discussing it directly with Russia.' The U.S. envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, urged Kyiv to attend the gathering in Turkey, at which he said the U.S., U.K., France and Germany would also take part on the sidelines with the goal of narrowing the differences. He also urged Moscow to deliver the memorandum. 'You need to show you're serious,' Kellogg told U.S. network ABC News. Russia's reported demand for a written pledge that NATO won't expand further eastwards, including into Ukraine, is a 'fair concern,' Kellogg said. U.S. President Donald Trump, who this week has expressed frustration with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over the stalled bid to end the war, has threatened new sanctions after Moscow launched its largest drone barrage of the war. However, on Wednesday he signaled he'd hold off on new penalties to preserve the chance for a deal with Putin. Asked by a reporter if the Russian leader is interested in a peace agreement, Trump responded: 'I can't tell you that, but I'll let you know in about two weeks.' Turkish diplomacy The next round of Russia-Ukraine talks could pave the way for a meeting of Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump, Turkey's top diplomat said on Friday. 'We think it may be possible that the Istanbul talks culminate with a meeting between Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy' hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a press conference in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. Putin is prepared to engage in high-level talks, but only if direct negotiations achieve concrete results, Peskov said, according to Tass. The Russian leader's choice of presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky to head Russia's delegation has dampened expectations of a breakthrough. He led Moscow's negotiators at a round of talks in Istanbul soon after the 2022 invasion began. That ended in acrimony over Russia's demands, including restrictions on the size and scope of Ukraine's army. Kyiv has denied an assertion from Putin that Ukraine accepted the demands. The Russian delegation for a second round of Istanbul talks will remain unchanged, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on state TV Thursday. Amid the latest Russian missile and drone attacks, Zelenskyy has pressed allied partners for $30 billion this year to boost domestic weapons production. He also proposed a meeting between himself, Trump and Putin aimed at breaking the deadlock in peace talks. Trump said he would join a hypothetical summit 'if necessary.' Germany this week agreed to provide Ukraine with €5 billion ($5.7 billion) in military aid as part of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's pledge to help Kyiv build long-range weapons to hit targets on Russian territory. The German funds will flow to the war-battered nation's production infrastructure, with a 'significant' number of weapons to be built this year, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. Merz, who earlier said that there were 'absolutely no range limits' on Ukrainian forces making deep strikes into Russian territory, vowed to intensify cooperation with Kyiv as European allies pile pressure on Russia to engage in talks to end the war. ---------- -With assistance from Aliaksandr Kudrytski. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Explosions, evacuation, road closures: Ukraine's intelligence conducts special operation in Russia's Vladivostok
Two powerful explosions occurred near Desantnaya Bay in the Russian city of Vladivostok, located in the Far East, on the morning of 30 May. Ukrainska Pravda sources have reported that the blasts were the result of a successful operation by Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. Source: Ukrainska Pravda sources in special services Details: At least two explosions were reported in the area where the 47th Separate Air Assault Battalion of the 155th Separate Guards Marine Brigade (military unit No. 30926) is stationed. One blast occurred near a checkpoint and the other at a location where personnel and command staff of the unit were present. Military personnel, equipment and special assets were hit. Local residents stated that at least ten ambulances and a medical evacuation helicopter arrived at the scene. Damaged equipment is being removed from the military site in military Ural trucks. In contrast, regional authorities claimed the incident was caused by the explosion of two gas cylinders, asserting that "no one was injured". A counter-terrorist operation regime has been declared in Vladivostok. The area around the military site has been sealed off. The road between Lazurnaya Bay and the village of Shchitovaya has been closed. The 155th Marine Brigade has been actively involved in combat operations against Ukraine, including documented participation in the battles in Mariupol, Vuhledar and Russia's Kursk Oblast. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Putin in favor of meeting Zelensky, Trump if progress is made in peace talks, Kremlin says
Russian President Vladimir Putin is "fundamentally in favor" of meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on May 30, according to Russian state news agency TASS. The statement comes amid renewed diplomatic maneuvering to schedule the next round of peace talks in Istanbul, tentatively proposed for June 2. Peskov stressed that a high-level summit would require concrete outcomes from the negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations. "President Putin has repeatedly said that he is fundamentally in favor of high-level contacts, which are undoubtedly needed," Peskov said. "But they must be prepared, and first, a result must be achieved in negotiations between the delegations." On May 30, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on May 30 that Turkey would be open to hosting a possible meeting among the three leaders, with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as well. Fidan's statement followed his visits to both Kyiv and Moscow. Zelensky previously invited Putin to Istanbul for direct talks on May 16, proposing a three-way format with Trump to push forward peace efforts. Putin declined to attend, sending a low-level delegation led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. The Istanbul talks ended without agreement on a ceasefire or broader political settlement, though the sides did agree to the largest prisoner exchange of the full-scale war. Join our community Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight. Support Us Moscow has rejected Kyiv's repeated calls for a complete and unconditional ceasefire, despite mounting international pressure. Russia has instead intensified its aerial assaults across Ukraine and is reportedly preparing for a renewed summer offensive. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed on May 29 that Moscow plans to present a draft "ceasefire memorandum" at the June 2 meeting in Istanbul. He added that Medinsky's team would be prepared to explain its content to the Ukrainian delegation. Zelensky's Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak said on May 29 that Kyiv is open to the talks but insists that Russia share the memorandum ahead of the meeting. The Kremlin has repeatedly attacked Zelensky's legitimacy as president, pointing out that his first presidential term was originally meant to end on May 20, 2024. Ukraine's constitution prohibits elections during martial law, which has been in effect since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022. As a result, Zelensky's term has been extended, which constitutional lawyers argue is permitted under Ukrainian law. Trump, who held a two-hour phone call with Putin on May 19 and is pushing to broker a ceasefire deal, has backed the idea of a high-level summit. Putin and Zelensky have met only once — in December 2019, during the Normandy Format talks in Paris. Read also: Russia 'testing' Europe's capacity to help Ukraine by intensifying air attacks We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
