Kemi Badenoch is set to turn the pressure up on Labour over defence with the announcement that a Tory government would build an “Iron Dome” missile defence system for £10bn if they win power.
The scheme, dubbed Britannia Shield, would link new radar, command systems and interceptor missiles into a single integrated network and be able to take out ballistic missiles – currently a weak spot in the UK’s defence.
The announcement will be welcomed by the UK’s military which has long warned that Britain is not capable of defending itself from drones and missiles. The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have demonstrated the destructive power of cheap drones.
It will also turn the heat up on Labour which is struggling to fill a £4.7bn gap in the defence budget, and meet its pledge of spending three per cent of GDP on defence – at a time when warnings are being sounded of a new danger from “grey” warfare waged by Russia and Iran.
‘War has returned to Europe’
But questions will be raised over how realistic a £10bn price tag actually is. Previous estimates have put the cost at at least £80bn.
The Tories’ dome – to be announced by shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge on Tuesday at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham – would protect military bases, power stations and other critical infrastructure across the UK, as well as sovereign territories and British bases overseas.
The Conservatives say the programme would be funded through the party’s plans to increase defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030, paid for by slashing Britain’s welfare bill.
Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative Party, said: “If a missile or drone is launched at Britain, we do not get a second chance to wish we had prepared.”
She accused the Government of putting benefits ahead of security. “When forced to choose, they pick social security over national security,” she said.
“War has returned to Europe. Missiles and drones are transforming warfare in the Middle East. Cheap weapons can now threaten cities, military bases and critical infrastructure in ways that would have sounded like science fiction a generation ago.”
Missile and drone threat to UK
The pledge comes as the threat of missile and drone attack against Britain or its allies continues to grow amid Western intelligence assessments, which have warned that Russia could hit a NATO country by 2030.
Last November, the Commons Defence Committee said that compared with European allies spending heavily on air and missile defence, the UK has “next to nothing”.
That gap has already been tested. In March, RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was hit by a one-way attack drone that was later reported to contain Russian technology. Weeks later, when Iran fired ballistic missiles towards the Chagos Islands, it was the United States, not Britain, that launched the interceptors.
Cartlidge is expected to say: “With a ten-billion-pound budget, this would be one of Britain’s most significant military programmes since the Cold War. But one that is totally necessary because of the threats we face.”
The money would be spread over ten years, at about £1bn a year. The Tories say a basic working system would be in place within their first term, with the network and its missile stockpiles expanded over the following five years.
The shield would work in three layers. New radars would detect incoming threats (“Sense”), upgraded command systems would choose the best response (“Decide”), and interceptor missiles and counter-drone weapons would destroy them (“Effect”). Existing British systems would be upgraded where possible to speed things up.
Other countries are already building their own shields. Greece has committed about $3.1 billion to its “Achilles Shield”, Belgium and the Netherlands have announced more than €3 billion for joint air defences, and the US is pressing ahead with its “Golden Dome”.
Struggles over defence spending
Tobias Ellwood, a military consultant and former Tory defence minister, said: “This is a well over-due commitment to fill the void in defending Britain as global security deteriorates.
“It’s only a matter of time before a military base or a corner of our critical national infrastructure is targeted and currently we have no air defence.”
Since coming into office more than two years ago, the Labour government has been at odds with generals over how much should be spent on military systems to defend the UK homeland from attack by Russia or another hostile state.
Last year’s Strategic Defence Review was delayed due to wrangling between Downing Street, the Ministry of Defence, Treasury and the SDR’s authors over how much the government could commit to missile defence, it is understood.
In the end, the SDR pledged just £1bn for air and missile defence – way short of the £80bn that experts, including one of the paper’s authors, Gen Sir Richard Barrons, said was needed for a full version of a UK Iron Dome.
The Defence Investment Plan published in July this year downgraded the amount ring-fenced for integrated air and missile defence (IAMD) to £790m.
Barrons told the defence committee this summer: “Many people in the country assume there is a sort of Iron Dome over at least London, and that is not even remotely there.
“The cost of an iron dome at entry level is probably £80bn over 10 years – entry level.
“The IAMD of my dreams is probably £120 billion over 10 years. But we got £1 billion, because it sits in that bit of the iceberg that never got to be remotely affordable.”
Current levels of protection
The UK has some protection in the form of RAF Typhoons which could shoot down hostile drones, but the jets cannot track or intercept ballistic missiles.
The Royal Navy’s Type 45 Destroyers equipped with Sea Viper air-defence systems can intercept missiles, but a ship would have to be in UK waters to be fully effective.
While Britain would, to some extent, be able to rely on its Nato allies in the event of a strike by Russia, military experts have long warned that the country needs a full “Iron Dome-style” missile-defence shield.
A Labour Party spokesman said: “Andy Burnham’s Labour Government is delivering the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War, including £1bn investment in air defences.
“Keeping Britain safe is the first priority of this government, and through our strategic investment in our defence industries and our unshakeable commitment to NATO and our Allies, we are delivering on that promise.”
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