Prime Minister Outlines Vision For "Hybrid" Royal Navy In SDR Launch Speech

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed plans for 12 new attack submarines and talked about creating a “hybrid Royal Navy blending drones with warships” as the Government published the Strategic Defence Review.

Speaking in Govan, Scotland, at the BAE Systems shipyard on the Clyde where the Royal Navy’s Type 26 frigates are being constructed, the Prime Minister said the continuing threat from Russia in both maritime and cyber domains “can’t be ignored” and promised, “We will never gamble with our national security.” 

He spoke about an ambition to create “a hybrid Royal Navy blending drones with warships, submarines, and aircraft to patrol the North Atlantic and beyond.”

These remarks came in a wider speech putting a new focus on increased defence spending at the heart of the Government’s programme that would “seize a defence dividend for the British people.”

Among the specific details mentioned in today’s (Monday’s) speech was a pledge to build six new munitions factories in the U.K., invest more heavily in air and missile defence, and acquire up to 12 new attack submarines — which would mean building a new boat every 18 months.

The new conventionally armed, nuclear-powered SSN-AUKUS attack submarines are scheduled to start coming into service in the late 2030s and will replace the Royal Navy’s existing Astute-class boats.

Sir Keir also spoke about the planned £15 billion investment in the country’s sovereign nuclear warhead programme to support the nation’s Continuous At-Sea Deterrent (CASD) — currently the Vanguard-class SSBN subs set to be replaced by the Dreadnought class from the early 2030s.

He promised the British military would learn the lessons of ongoing conflict in the Ukraine to make its armed forces “ten times more lethal by 2035.”

The PM outlined three main tenets of the Government’s response to the independently produced SDR report, the full text of which is said to set out 62 separate recommendations. Sir Keir said it firstly involved the country “moving to warfighting readiness” as the most effective way to deter aggression and bring “peace through strength.”

Secondly, he added: “Everything we do will add to the strength of NATO…. We will never fight alone,” further noting, “Our defence policy will always be NATO first.”

And finally, he promised: “We will innovate, and accelerate innovation at a wartime pace,” in particular developing “world-leading drone capabilities and battlefield technology.”

He concluded: “The moment has arrived to transform how we defend ourselves and to renew ourselves.”

• You can read more details about the announcements on the U.K. MoD website