UK ‘Iron Dome’ needed to guard against Russian attack, defence review set to warn ...Middle East

A major review into the UK’s defence is expected to recommend increasing the country’s homeland protection against attacks from Russia and other hostile states, The i Paper understands.

General Sir Richard Barrons, one of the authors of the Strategic Defence Review, is “really into the idea of ‘hedgehog Britain’” where the UK’s missile defence systems would be strengthened, according to military insiders.

It is also expected to include recommendations on protecting the UK’s critical infrastructure, including undersea telecommunications cables, after increased attempts at interference by Russia in the Baltic in recent months.

The SDR was commissioned by Sir Keir Starmer last year within weeks of becoming prime minister and is a top priority for the government amid the ongoing threat from Russia, Iran and a potential blockade of Taiwan by China.

While the UK has an existing homeland defence system, experts believe it needs to be upgraded and be fully integrated between air, land and sea. The current system includes an RAF Typhoon jet quick reaction force to protect UK airspace, Sky Sabre, a ground-based anti-missile system that can intercept hostile aircraft, drones and missiles at medium range, and Sea Viper and Sea Ceptor air defence missiles stationed on Royal Navy destroyers.

While the Sea Viper and Sea Ceptor can intercept ballistic missiles, there are only six Type 45 destroyers in operation, not all of which are in UK waters, and its radar is short-range, leaving the UK vulnerable to an intermediate to long-range missile attack.

The UK has Trident, its continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent, but this is unlikely to be deployed in response to a conventional weapons attack.

As a member of Nato, the UK has some protection from the alliance’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence system, but the SDR is expected to recommend a strengthened sovereign system for the UK.

The increased “hybrid war” activity by Moscow in UK waters as well as the Baltic in recent months, including interference with under-sea communication cables and the Russian spy ship Yantar’s incursion into the Channel last month, has heightened calls for a beefed-up homeland security.

One option the reviewers are expected to weigh up is the UK fully enrolling in the European Sky Shield Initiative, or ESSI, which is a German-led cross-European scheme to jointly procure missile defence equipment and is designed to complement Nato’s capabilities.

While the UK is a founding member in principle of ESSI, it is currently not taking part in the joint procurement of kit.

Britain does not have the sort of missile defence system in place in Israel, which can intercept medium to long-range missiles under its David’s Sling and Arrow systems.

Donald Trump this week approved plans for the US to have an Israel-inspired “Iron Dome” style missile defence system to protect against hypersonic missile attacks.

While the US has advanced defences which can intercept long-range missiles, Russia’s development of a hypersonic missile, called Oreshnik, last year has compelled western governments to beef up their protection.

How the UK is currently protected from a missile attack

Each branch of the UK armed forces has a system to repel incoming missiles from terrorist groups or hostile states that protect the air, land and sea.

But there are concerns these are not integrated into one overarching protection, and that it stops short of preventing attack by an intermediate orlong-range ballistic missile, such as the hypersonic Oreshnik weapon Russia used against Ukraine last year.

The RAF has a quick reaction alert force to protect UK airspace, involving Typhoon fighter jets stationed at RAF Lossiemouth, Moray in north east Scotland, and Coningsby near Lincoln in the East Midlands.

These can be scrambled at instant notice to intercept and escort hostile aircraft out of UK airspace, as well as shoot down drones. But they do not have the capacity to repel ballistic missiles.

The army has Sky Sabre, a medium-range, ground-based mobile air defence system which can engage fighter aircraft, attack helicopters, drones, and laser guided smart bombs.

Sky Sabre has also recently been deployed to Poland to help protect Nato’s eastern flank.

However Sky Sabre cannot prevent a ballistic or hypersonic missile attack.

The only capability the UK armed forces have to stop ballistic missiles are the Sea Viper and Sea Ceptor air defence missiles, which can be fired off Royal Navy Type 45 destroyers.

There are only six of these battleships and not all of those are in UK waters. Its radar is short range and Viper and Ceptor cannot shoot down a hypersonic missile.

As a last resort, the UK has Trident, its continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent, but this is unlikely to be deployed against a conventional weapons attack.

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said: “Homeland defence must be an absolute priority for the SDR. I spoke recently in Parliament of the serious nature of the Russian threat to our waters and therefore our nation, including critical infrastructure.

“The problem is that, whether we are talking air defence missiles or any other munition type, there is a big queue of international demand and we should have been placing our orders months ago.

“Instead, the SDR has been used in part to delay accelerating defence spending, hitting the MOD’s ability to procure munitions at the scale and pace the threat requires. Whatever the SDR concludes on missile defence, I guarantee we will need to replenish our munitions across the board and we need to get on with it.”

The review will also look at the structure of the armed forces, including training and recruitment.

The size of the UK’s armed forces has been steadily shrinking over the last two decades, and military experts recently told The i Paper that Britain would struggle to play a significant peacekeeping role in Ukraine because the army is “too small”.

Rows over funding

Barrons and Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, a former Nato secretary general who is chairing the review panel, are expected to complete their report this spring, with some insiders suggesting it will be handed over to Defence Secretary John Healey in March.

But there has been recent speculation that it could be delayed over rows over funding.

The terms of reference of the review make clear that its recommendations should be made within the spending envelope of 2.5 per cent of GDP, which is the government’s promised target for defence funding.

Ministers are due to announce this spring when that rate will be reached.

And despite reports that the SDR could be pushed back to the autumn as a result, the government said it would still be published this spring.

One defence insider said the Treasury “would not let the SDR call for more money”. The i Paper revealed last year that the Treasury is pushing for the 2.5 per cent target date to be as late as 2034, at the end of the next parliament.

But Robertson has already sent a warning to ministers that the SDR needed to be backed up by funding.

He told the defence committee in December: “Every review in my working life has failed, generally within two years… because they have left an enormous gap between ambition and resourcing.

“We cannot guarantee anything… We are operating on the basis of the terms of reference that we were given.”

And Barrons told the MPs: “Our job is to deliver the best review that we can…Some in the Department might think they can humour us and then go back to normal jogging.”

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “The Strategic Defence Review is wide-ranging and working at pace, looking hard at the threats we face and all the capabilities we need to meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.

“Our Budget increased defence spending by £2.9 billion for next year and the Government’s Plan for Change said we would set out a path to 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence in the Spring.”

The SDR is expected to also look at updating Britain’s military capabilities to keep pace with developments in artificial intelligence.

Barrons told the defence committee in December that there was a “skills crisis” in this field, adding: “The one that is most prominent for defence is accessing the skills in the digital space.”

In a recent joint paper for RUSI, the defence think tank, experts Will Jessett, Tom McKane and Peter Watkins said the SDR would need to consider the “scale and immediacy” of threats to UK national and European security, as well as what they said were the longer-term challenges from countries like China.

They added: “The growing risk of hybrid attacks, challenges in the new domains of space and cyberspace, and the potential recurrence of international terrorism will also have to be on the menu.”

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