UK defense firms heap praise, mostly, on Britain’s up-armament drift

ROME — Britain’s defense industry chiefs have applauded the U.K. government’s pledge to beef up military spending, but some say they will wait to see the money before they give a standing ovation.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer this week announced the construction of 12 new attack submarines , six new munition plants and a new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command, as well as a host of other upgrades to Britain’s armed forces.

The boost in capabilities was outlined by a new Strategic Defense Review, which Starmer commissioned after being elected last July to prepare the U.K. for current and future conflicts.

Starmer also said the U.K.’s defense spending would increase to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, up from 2.3%, but said an ambition to reach 3% in the next Parliament would be “subject to economic and fiscal conditions.”

That brought praise from Kevin Craven, the CEO of ADS, the U.K. defense, aerospace and space industry association, who said the Review showed the defense ministry “has a plan, and a good one at that.”

But he added, “Clearly, as with all such initiatives, what truly matters is the execution of this intent and the resources to fund it.”

There lay the rub, he added. “While the plan is strong, and there has been a lot of clarity around the government’s ambitions, some of the equivocation around the timings of increasing our defense spend to 3% of GDP is detrimental to the overall impact of the announcement.”

He added, “As government is clear that military performance shouldn’t be limited to meet a cost imperative, the first step to 2.5% by 2027 is very welcome but will not be sufficient.”

Clive Higgins, the chairman and CEO of Leonardo UK, also gave a thumbs up combined with a word of caution in a released statement.

“We welcome the proposed ‘new partnership with industry’ outlined in the strategy, with defense suppliers rewarded for productivity and investment onshore,” he said.

He added, “Of course, such strong words from the government must be backed by equally strong action. We have previously seen defense reviews lionize U.K. industry but then fail to take the next step and invest. The defence investment plan must be adequately funded in order to deliver the ‘innovation at a wartime pace’ required by the strategy. We must see more nimble and partnership-based procurement, harnessing the U.K.’s market power for the good of our own onshore industry.”

Higgins said, “With all this in place, I believe that we will be able to meet this challenge, because the U.K.’s defense industry is, like our armed forces, world class.”

Other U.K. CEOs were keen to give no-ifs, no-buts praise, including BAE Systems CEO Charles Woodburn, who said, “We welcome the review, including the government’s commitment to the largest sustained increase in defense spending since the Cold War.”

In comments made after the release of the Review, Woodburn said industry could now invest in production, safe in the knowledge the UK government would buy its wares.

“This clear demand signal gives our sector the confidence to invest in boosting capacity, driving efficiencies and developing cutting-edge technologies to meet evolving requirements for the U.K. and our allies, while driving economic growth through exports and thousands of highly skilled jobs across the country,” he said.

Thales UK CEO Phil Siveter was equally upbeat, claiming, “On the back of this SDR, we will create new, highly skilled jobs across all parts of the U.K.”

He added, “This Review is a call to action. Thales is ready.”

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——英国国防工业高管们对英国政府承诺增加军费开支表示赞赏，但一些人表示，他们要等到看到资金到位后才会起立鼓掌。

英国首相基尔·斯塔默本周宣布将建造 12 艘新的攻击型潜艇、6 座新的弹药厂和一个新的网络与电磁司令部，以及对英国武装部队进行一系列其他升级。

能力提升的重点在于一份新的《战略防御评估报告》，该报告由斯塔默在去年7月当选后委托撰写，旨在使英国为当前和未来的冲突做好准备。

斯塔默还表示，到 2027 年，英国的国防开支将占 GDP 的 2.3%，高于目前的 2.3%，但他表示，在下届议会实现 3% 的目标将“取决于经济和财政状况”。

英国国防、航空航天和航天工业协会 ADS 的首席执行官凯文·克雷文对此表示赞扬，他说，这份审查报告表明国防部“有一个计划，而且是一个很好的计划”。

但他补充说：“显然，与所有此类举措一样，真正重要的是这一意图的执行以及为其提供资金的资源。”

他补充说，问题就在这里。“虽然计划本身很完善，政府的目标也相当明确，但对于将国防开支提高到GDP的3%的具体时间安排，政府的一些含糊其辞，不利于这项宣布的整体效果。”

他补充说：“政府已经明确表示，军事绩效不应仅仅为了满足成本要求而受到限制，因此，到 2027 年实现 2.5% 的目标固然值得欢迎，但这还远远不够。”

英国莱昂纳多公司董事长兼首席执行官克莱夫·希金斯在一份声明中也表示赞同，但同时也提出了警告。

他说：“我们欢迎该战略中提出的‘与产业界建立新的伙伴关系’的提议，国防供应商将因其生产力和在国内的投资而获得奖励。”

他补充道：“当然，政府如此强硬的表态必须辅以同样强有力的行动。我们之前看到，国防评估报告对英国工业大加赞扬，却未能采取下一步行动进行投资。国防投资计划必须获得充足的资金，才能实现战略所要求的‘战时速度下的创新’。我们必须看到更加灵活、以伙伴关系为基础的采购方式，充分发挥英国的市场力量，造福于我们本土的工业。”

希金斯说：“有了这些条件，我相信我们能够应对这一挑战，因为英国的国防工业和我们的武装部队一样，都是世界一流的。”

其他英国首席执行官也纷纷表示了毫不含糊的赞扬，其中包括 BAE 系统公司首席执行官查尔斯·伍德伯恩，他说：“我们欢迎此次审查，包括政府承诺自冷战以来最大幅度的持续国防开支增长。”

伍德伯恩在审查报告发布后发表评论说，现在企业可以放心地投资生产，因为他们知道英国政府会购买他们的产品。

“这一明确的需求信号使我们的行业有信心投资提升产能、提高效率并开发尖端技术，以满足英国及其盟友不断变化的需求，同时通过出口和在全国范围内创造数千个高技能就业岗位来推动经济增长，”他说道。

泰雷兹英国首席执行官菲尔·西维特同样乐观，他声称：“凭借这项战略开发权，我们将在英国各地创造新的高技能就业岗位。”

他补充道：“这份评估报告是一份行动号召。泰雷兹已经做好准备。”

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。