Reeves accused of blocking drone production to cut defence costs

Telegraph

30-03-2025

Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, has been accused of blocking the production of drones for the British Army to save money.
James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, warned that Britain's security and defence was being undermined after discovering that just three reconnaissance drones had been ordered for the military since Labour won the general election last year.
After submitting a question in parliament, he was also told that not a single attack drone had been ordered. In contrast, Ukraine produces around 200,000 a month, of which 10,000 are shot down by the Russian military over the front line.
Mr Cartlidge said the financial squeeze had meant the Ministry of Defence (MoD) appeared to have ignored a drone strategy which he set out a year ago when he was a defence minister.
The strategy proposed that Britain should develop its military drone capability and training while providing a 'significant' number of the devices to Ukraine.
Mr Cartlidge said: 'When the war in Ukraine and our experience in the Red Sea shows drones are now critical to achieving mass in modern warfare, Labour's failure to purchase a single attack drone for our own forces is a damning indictment of a Government talking tough on defence but not delivering in reality.
'This proves what I've argued for months – for all Labour's promises to raise defence spending, forced on them by circumstance, the practical reality since the election is that they've chosen to prioritise penny-pinching over actual procurement.
'Instead of ordering capabilities for the British Armed Forces, the Treasury has used an invented 'black hole' to stall rearmament and undermine our defence.'
He added: 'Labour must now get on with the job of ramping up production, placing orders with British defence companies, who have had a track record producing cutting edge drones for Ukraine and are champing at the bit to do the same for our own military.'
The alleged block on drones comes despite plans by Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP with an ambition to reach 3 per cent in the next parliament.
The lack of attack drone orders was revealed after Mr Cartlidge asked the MoD to detail how many military drones had been purchased for strikes, logistics and reconnaissance since July 5 2024.
Maria Eagle, a defence minister, replied: 'An order for three aircraft delivering intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance UK capability was placed at the end of January 2025, through an urgent capability requirement project.
'Separately, as previously announced, working on behalf of the International Fund for Ukraine and the international Drone Capability Coalition, the UK has placed contracts for a significant number of drones for use by the armed forces of Ukraine.'
The drone strategy, published last February, said the Ukraine war provided 'no clearer example' of how the deployment of low-cost drones was 'increasingly defeating more exquisite capabilities and delivering disproportionate impact on the battlefield.'
'The UK must learn from the Ukrainian experience, amongst other lessons, to position ourselves as a world leader in uncrewed systems,' it said.
Backed by investment from its European and US allies, Ukraine's ministry of defence issued contracts for the domestic manufacture of 1.6 million drones, of various types, for about £1.8 billion by October 2024.
The aircraft produced has included long-range kamikaze drones, conventional configuration reconnaissance drones and single-wing reconnaissance drones.