Conservatives pledge £10bn 'Britannia Shield' air and missile defence system

Mixed · 2The Conservatives pledged to spend up to £10bn over a decade on a new missile and drone defence system called "Britannia Shield" if they win the next election. 1 2 Mixed · 2The party described it as a British "Iron Dome", modelled on Israel's air defence system, and said it would protect critical national infrastructure, military bases and sovereign territories. 1 2 Centre · 1It would have three parts: new advanced radar, upgraded command and control systems, and new interceptor missiles with counter-drone capabilities. 1

Right · 1Party leader Kemi Badenoch said the threat was "here" and presented the policy as a response to cheap drones changing battlefields in the Middle East and Ukraine. 2 Mixed · 2Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge is due to detail the plan in a speech to the Conservative conference in Birmingham on Tuesday, calling it "the most significant upgrade to UK air defence for generations" and "totally necessary". 1 2 Mixed · 2Badenoch announced the pledge on the third day of the conference, saying "The world will not wait for Britain to get ready" and accusing Labour of choosing "social security over national security". 3 4

Mixed · 2The Conservatives cited a Commons defence committee report from last November that said the UK lagged European counterparts in planning to defend itself and its overseas territories; City A.M. quotes it as warning the UK had "next to nothing" in missile defence. 1 2 Mixed · 2The party said the money would come within its existing pledge to raise defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030, funded by welfare reform and reprioritising existing spending; City A.M. says cuts to housing and child benefits and re-routed National Wealth Fund and British Business Bank investment would pay for it. 1 2 Mixed · 2Party officials said the system would cost around £1bn a year over 10 years within that existing funding promise, and the Conservatives say reinstating the two-child benefit cap and reforming housing benefit would help pay for it. 3 4

Centre · 1Defence Secretary Wes Streeting responded that the Conservatives had an "abysmal record" of defending Britain over 14 years in power and "owe Britain an apology, not another lecture", citing cuts to the Army and a £17 billion hole in the equipment plan. 1 Mixed · 2A Labour Party spokesperson said trusting the Tories on defence would "wave a huge white flag to our enemies", that they left the Army at its smallest since the Napoleonic era, and that Labour is delivering the biggest sustained defence spending increase since the Cold War, including £1bn investment in air defences. 3 5 Centre · 1The Liberal Democrats' defence spokesman James MacCleary said £10bn "would not even touch the sides for a complete UK-wide 'iron dome'" and called the funding plan "Truss-style fantasy economics". 3

Mixed · 2The BBC says the design resembles the Army's Sky Sabre system, deployed to the Middle East earlier this year against Iranian attacks, and that Labour's Defence Investment Plan includes more than £350m to double the number of Sky Sabre systems; City A.M. says the current plan puts less than £1bn towards a missile system. 1 2 Mixed · 2Both outlets place the announcement amid pressure on the government over defence spending: the BBC says Prime Minister Andy Burnham must show how he will reach Nato's 3.5% of GDP target by 2035, and City A.M. says Chancellor John Healey, who resigned as defence secretary in June over the Treasury's reluctance to raise military spending to 3%, plans to set out a spending pathway at next year's Spending Review. 1 2 Mixed · 2The Mirror ties the announcement to anxiety that Russia could test Nato through hybrid attacks and drone incursions, citing Germany's accusation of an attempted Russian drone attack on Leipzig airport in August; the Evening Standard notes real-terms defence spending fell about 22% by 2016/17 under Conservative governments before recovering to 2010 levels. 5 3