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The National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 was published by the British government during the second Cameron ministry on 23 November 2015 to outline the United Kingdom's defence strategy up to 2025. It identified key threats to the UK and the capabilities it required to address them.


Threats

The National Security Risk Assessment 2015 found the threats faced by the UK, including its Overseas Territories and overseas interests, have "increased in scale, diversity and complexity" since 2010. It highlighted four particular threats that are likely to be priorities for UK security in the coming decade: # The increasing threat posed by terrorism, extremism and instability. # The resurgence of state-based threats; and intensifying wider state competition. # The impact of technology, especially cyber threats; and wider technological developments. # The erosion of the rules-based international order, making it harder to build consensus and tackle global threats.


Decisions

The commitments in the paper for equipment and support for the three services amounted to £178 billion up to 2025. This is roughly 20% of the 10 year budget period. The government reaffirmed its commitment to spending 2% of national GDP on defence.


Joint Forces

*The largest deployable expeditionary force to be increased from 30,000 to 50,000 by 2025. This includes a maritime task group headed by an aircraft carrier, a land
division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
consisting of three brigades, an air group of combat, surveillance and transport aircraft, and a Special Forces task group. *Planned investment in Special Forces equipment doubled and advanced communications equipment and weapons will be purchased. *British Defence Staffs headquarters will be established in the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Africa in 2016. *£1.9 billion investment in cyber capabilities and development of satellite communications and space-based surveillance capabilities. *The Ministry of Defence would purchase at least 2
Airbus Zephyr The Airbus Zephyr is a series of lightweight solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The latest model is a high-altitude platform station capable of flying at for months at a time without fueling. It has a wingspan of and weighs . Deve ...
high-altitude UAVs. *The number of nuclear warheads will be reduced to no more than 180 by the mid-2020s.


Royal Navy

*Personnel will be increased by 400. *Both ''Queen Elizabeth''-class aircraft carriers will be brought into service and fully crewed, one of which will be modified to better support amphibious operations and one carrier to be available at all times. *The Royal Navy will continue to maintain 19 frigates and destroyers, but with the long-term goal of ultimately increasing the fleet. *Procurement of the
Type 26 frigate The Type 26 frigate or City-class frigate is a class of frigate being built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, with variants also being built for the Australian and Canadian navies. The programme, known as the Global Combat Ship, was launched ...
reduced from 13 to 8. A new class of "at least five" lighter, flexible, general purpose frigates will be designed and built to ensure the Royal Navy has "at least" 13 frigates in service. These will be more affordable than the Type 26s in order to allow the Royal Navy to buy more of them and further expand its fleet of frigates and destroyers by the 2030s. This second variant will be known as the Type 31 frigate. *A new class of ballistic missile submarines, now known as the ''Dreadnought'' class, will be built to replace all four ''Vanguard''-class submarines, the first of which will enter service in the early 2030s. Ballistic missile submarines will carry no more than 40 warheads across only eight operational Trident D5 missiles *A further two
River-class patrol vessel The River class is a class of offshore patrol vessels built primarily for the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. A total of nine were built for the Royal Navy (RN), four Batch 1 and five Batch 2. One Batch 1 (), which was the Falklands guard sh ...
s were to be ordered for a fleet of "up to 6" by 2025. The three Batch 2 River-Class ships will replace the earlier 3 Batch 1 River-Class ships. Later, during a Defence Select Committee in July 2016, the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Andrew Jones indicated that the option for a fleet of 'up to six' offshore patrol vessels had been reduced to five, with ''Clyde'' being replaced by one of the new Batch 2 ships. The First Sea Lord also elaborated on the potential uses for the Batch 2 ships overseas, including the possibility of forward basing an extra ship at the Falklands Islands, or forward basing it elsewhere. Subsequently, post-Brexit, it was decided to retain three Batch I vessels to operate in UK waters. *Four ''Tide''-class tankers were to continue to be built as originally planned, along with three
Solid Support Ship A fleet solid support ship is a type of Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) ship designed to supply solids (otherwise known as dry stores), such as ammunition, explosives and food, to Royal Navy ships at sea. The term can also refer to the programme to r ...
. *Both ''Albion''-class landing platform docks and all three ''Bay''-class landing ship docks will remain in service. The previously planned decommissioning of HMS ''Ocean'' was confirmed. *12
mine countermeasures vessel A mine countermeasures vessel or MCMV is a type of naval ship designed for the location of and destruction of naval mines which combines the role of a minesweeper and minehunter A minehunter is a naval vessel that seeks, detects, and destr ...
s will exist in Joint Force 2025. The three oldest ''Sandown''-class minehunters will be decommissioned. *The manning levels for the
Gibraltar Squadron The Gibraltar Squadron is a unit of the British Royal Navy. It is the only seagoing Royal Naval unit based in Gibraltar, attached to British Forces Gibraltar. It currently includes two ''Cutlass''-class fast patrol boats with a maximum speed of ...
will increase. *The role of
Type 45 destroyer The Type 45 destroyer, also known as the D or ''Daring'' class, is a class of six guided-missile destroyers built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the early 21st century. The class is primarily designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile ...
s in
ballistic missile defence An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missiles (missile defense). Ballistic missiles are used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological, or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajec ...
will be further investigated. *A parliamentary reply noted that "The consideration of options to deliver the capabilities provided by
RFA Diligence RFA ''Diligence'' was a forward repair ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Launched in 1981 as a support ship for North Sea oil rigs, she was chartered by the British government to support naval activities during the 1982 Falklands War and was la ...
and RFA Argus remains ongoing" although this policy was vague and, as of 2020, had not been acted upon.


Royal Air Force

* Personnel will be increased by 300. *Two additional
Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo ...
squadrons will be formed by postponing plans to retire Tranche 1 Typhoons. This was to bring the total number of frontline Typhoon squadrons to seven by 2025 (though the 2021 defence review later announced the retirement of all Tranche 1s by 2025). The Typhoon aircraft also to receive upgrades to ensure they would be retained for an additional ten years (until 2040). *There was a reaffirmed commitment to ordering 138
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather Stealth aircraft, stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both Air superiority fighter, air superiority and attack ...
s, with a total of 24 available to be deployed on board the ''Queen Elizabeth''-class carriers by 2023. * The paper announced that the third Tornado GR4 Squadron (12 Squadron) would continue until 2018 while the remaining two squadrons, 9 and 31 Squadrons would have an out of service date of 2019. *Nine Boeing P-8 Poseidon
maritime patrol aircraft A maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), also known as a patrol aircraft, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, or by the older American term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over water in maritime patrol rol ...
will be ordered to plug the gap left by the retirement of the
Nimrod Nimrod (; ; arc, ܢܡܪܘܕ; ar, نُمْرُود, Numrūd) is a biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush and therefore a great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of ...
in 2011 and the scrapping of its planned successor, the Nimrod MRA4. The aircraft will be based at
RAF Lossiemouth Royal Air Force Lossiemouth or more commonly RAF Lossiemouth is a military airfield located on the western edge of the town of Lossiemouth in Moray, north-east Scotland. Lossiemouth is one of the largest and busiest fast-jet stations in the R ...
. *The
RPAS An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...
fleet will be doubled with the current 10 General Atomics MQ-9 Reapers to be replaced by more than 20 new armed Protector Drones (program formerly known as Scavenger). *14
C-130J Hercules The Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. The C-130J is a comprehensive update of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, with new engines, flight deck, and other systems. The C-130J is the newest v ...
aircraft will remain in service alongside 22
Airbus A400M Atlas The Airbus A400M AtlasNamed after the Greek mythological figure. is a European four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Military (now Airbus Defence and Space) as a tactical airlifter with strategic capab ...
and 8 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. *14 Voyager air-to-air refuelling aircraft will be in service by 2025, with one fitted for transport of the Prime Minister, senior cabinet officials and the Royal Family. *Continued investment will be made in the development of new precision weapons. *Around four Sentinel R1 will be extended in service "into the next decade", but will leave service by 2025. * Shadow R1 will remain in service until "at least" 2030 and two more aircraft will be procured. * Sentry AEW1 and Rivet Joint R1 will remain in service until 2035.


British Army

*The size of the Army will not fall below 82,000 regulars and 35,000 reservists. *Increased investment will be put into training and equipment for the reserves. *589
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...
armoured vehicles will be ordered. *Two rapid-reaction "Strike Brigades" will be formed by 2025, comprising 5,000 personnel each, equipped with Ajax and the
Mechanised Infantry Vehicle The Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV) is the British Army's concept of an 8 × 8 wheeled vehicle. On 31 March 2018 the United Kingdom rejoined the Boxer (armoured fighting vehicle) programme in order to move to an assessment phase, which may see ...
. The Armoured Infantry Brigades will be reduced from three to two. *Two innovative brigades will be established, comprising a mix of Regulars and specialist capabilities from the Reserves, that are able to contribute to strategic communications, tackle hybrid warfare and deliver better battlefield intelligence. *Apache attack helicopters will be upgraded. Four squadrons will exist in 2025. *
Challenger 2 The FV4034 Challenger 2 (MOD designation "CR2") is a third generation British main battle tank (MBT) in service with the armies of the United Kingdom and Oman. It was designed and built by the British company Vickers Defence Systems (now known ...
tanks will be upgraded by the Life Extension Project (LEP), which will extend the tank's out-of-service date. *The 77th Brigade will be the core unit for counter-hybrid warfare. *" Commander Land Forces" will become "
Commander Field Army The Field Army is a command of the British Army responsible for generating and preparing forces for current and contingency operations. Commander Field Army reports to the Chief of the General Staff. Background Following the 1966 Defence ...
".


Intelligence agencies

*There will be an increase of 1,900 security and intelligence staff across all
intelligence agencies An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of informatio ...
to respond to terrorism, cyber and other threats.


Foreign policy

The government outlined a range of foreign policy initiatives. These included: *A permanent UK military presence will be maintained in the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...
, including a new naval base in Bahrain, named HMS Juffair, and the establishment of a new British Defence Staff in the Middle East, as well as in the Asia Pacific and Africa. *There will be a doubling of the number of military personnel contributed to
United Nations peacekeeping Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role held by the Department of Peace Operations as an "instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace". It is distinguished ...
operations. *The UK will work with the rule-based international order and help strengthen multilateral institutions. *UK
Official Development Assistance Official development assistance (ODA) is a category used by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to measure foreign aid. The DAC first adopted the concept in 1969. It ...
expenditure will be maintained at 0.7% of GNI, with 50% of the DFID's spending going towards fragile states.


Reaction

*Malcolm Chambers of the
Royal United Services Institute The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi), registered as Royal United Service Institute for Defence and Security Studies and formerly the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, is a British defence and security think tank. ...
(RUSI) welcomed the 2015 NSS and SDSR, stating that "The outcome of this SDSR is much better than the armed forces had been expecting only six months ago, when further steep capability cuts – comparable to those suffered over the last five years – were widely anticipated." *Former
Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Af ...
Lord Dannatt welcomed the SDSR, stating that it was an attempt to rectify past errors made in the 2010 SDSR. *The
International Institute for Strategic Studies The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is a British research institute or think tank in the area of international affairs. Since 1997, its headquarters have been Arundel House in London, England. The 2017 Global Go To Think ...
(IISS) responded to the SDSR by saying it "offers a credible plan to improve, modernise and increase UK security and hard power. It maintains the UK as a significant defence power, and adds and protects future capabilities, including in areas that are needed to deal with modern threats such as terrorism and cyber attack." *A report in Defense Aerospace argued that the review actually showed that "New cash is in short supply nd thenew capabilities reundefined, uncosted, unscheduled. *James de Waal of
Chatham House Chatham House, also known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is an independent policy institute headquartered in London. Its stated mission is to provide commentary on world events and offer solutions to global challenges. It is ...
argued that the review was more of a "political success" for the Conservative-led government, but "the way it came together speaks to larger problems with British policy-making on security." *''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
'' judged that Britain had reasserted itself as a "serious military power". * Japanese Minister of Defense
Gen Nakatani is a Japanese politician who was Director General of the Japan Defense Agency (now Japan Ministry of Defense) in the first cabinet of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2001-2002 and was appointed as the Minister of Defense by former ...
said the review reaffirmed the UK's commitment to its "presence as a global power" and "The SDSR highlighted Japan as the closest security partner in Asia, and I highly regard this statement." *In a policy paper fo
History & Policy
Edward Longinotti argues that Britain's strategic defence review comes at a time when the country's defence policy faces the same challenges as those encountered in 1968: how to accommodate two major commitments, to Europe and to an ‘east of Suez’ global military strategy, within a modest defence budget that can only fund one. *
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
David Cameron claimed U.S. President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
was "clearly delighted" with the results of the UK's defence review, with US officials reported to have been concerned at the weakening of UK defence capability caused by previous cuts.


See also

* Integrated Review * Security and Defence Review 2021 *
Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 was announced by the newly formed Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government of the United Kingdom in May 2010, and published on 19 October 2010. The previous major review of UK defence strateg ...
* National Security Strategy (United Kingdom) * Will Jessett


References


External links


National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015: defence facts and figuresSDSR 2015 Defence Fact SheetsThe 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review
House of Commons Library briefing paper for MPs {{Politics of outer space 2015 documents Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) Defence white papers British defence policymaking United Kingdom defence procurement 21st-century military history of the United Kingdom 2015 in military history 2015 in British politics