Defence Investment Plan: Key decisions

On 30 June 2026, the government published its long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP). The government had pledged to publish the DIP before the NATO summit, which begins in Turkey on 7 July 2026.

The DIP has a 10-year focus but specifically sets out the Ministry of Defence’s spending and equipment priorities for the next four years, to financial year 2029/30. Before publishing the plan, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) said that it had been “refocused” towards more immediate priorities, including “getting the latest kit into the hands of military personnel on the frontline”. Concerns over an earlier version of the Defence Investment Plan, and the financial settlement underpinning it, prompted the resignation of Defence Secretary John Healey and Armed Forces Minister Al Carns in early June 2026.

This briefing sets out the main decisions made by the DIP. Strengthening warfighting readiness and embracing autonomous and AI technologies underpins much of the plan. However, it also makes significant decisions on the future of existing programmes and capabilities, such as the next-generation fighter aircraft, the Ajax armoured vehicle and the capabilities that will comprise a future hybrid navy.

The MOD has committed to provide an annual update to Parliament on delivery against the DIP. The first annual report will be published in July 2027.

Further research and analysis of specific issues will be available from the Commons Library in due course.

Background: The Strategic Defence Review

The 2025 Strategic Defence Review (SDR) set out a vision for UK defence to 2035 that would see a move toward “warfighting readiness”, the development of “a more lethal, integrated force” that utilises AI and autonomy alongside more conventional warfighting capabilities and strengthened homeland defence.

The government endorsed the SDR’s 62 recommendations, which were premised on the government’s commitment to spend 3% of GDP on defence in the next Parliament, when fiscal and economic conditions allow.

However, the SDR differed from previous defence reviews in that it did not set out recommendations on equipment and capabilities. Instead, the government said that a new Defence Investment Plan would be published, setting out how the MOD intends to “deliver the SDR’s vision” for a “hybrid navy”, a “British Army that is 10X more lethal” and “a next-generation RAF”. The DIP will replace the MOD’s previous Defence Equipment Plan.

In a letter to the Chair of the Defence Committee (PDF), Tan Dhesi MP, in March 2026 the Ministry of Defence said that the DIP would be “a coherent and costed plan” that would “detail the prioritised and sequenced capabilities and infrastructure the UK needs to respond to emerging threats over the next decade” and that it would “detail investment priorities out to 2035, giving coherence and certainty to defence industry”.

Further information and background on the main recommendations of the SDR, including for each of the services, is available in Commons Library briefing paper: Strategic Defence Review 2025: Key points and paper series.

Defence spending

The DIP sets out the government's plans for defence spending over the four years from 2026/27 to 2029/30. The government has announced an additional £15 billion for defence over this period on top of what was allocated at the 2025 Spending Review, bringing total planned spending across this period to £298 billion. The DIP does not include detailed spending plans beyond 2029/30.

The Defence Secretary, Dan Jarvis, has said that most of this additional funding consists of “extra day-to-day spending for training and improving availability of ships and aircraft to increase our war-fighting readiness”.

Mr Jarvis indicated that he had secured a further £1.5 billion in funding over this four-year period since taking over the post from his predecessor, John Healey, in June 2026.

The chart below shows how planned MOD spending from 2026/27 to 2029/30 compares with reported spending in previous years. Spending plans set out in the DIP indicate that the MOD budget is expected to reach £79.1 billion in cash terms in 2029/30. This is £16.9 billion higher than spending in 2025/26, when the MOD spent £62.2 billion. After adjusting for inflation, the increase in spending is around £11.1 billion (18%) in real terms, measured in 2025/26 prices.

Compared with spending under the previous Conservative government (£53.9 billion in 2023/24), planned spending in 2029/30 would represent a real-terms increase of £15.3 billion (26%). This real-terms percentage increase differs from the 27% figure reported in the DIP because it is based on the latest GDP deflator series published on 30 June 2026.

Source: MOD, The Defence Investment Plan Funding explainer; MOD, Memorandum for the Ministry of Defence Main Estimate 2026-27 (PDF); MOD, Defence departmental resources: 2025; HM Treasury, GDP Deflators at market prices, June 2026 (Quarterly National Accounts)

How will the additional £15 billion for defence be funded?

The government has set out how it plans to fund £10.3 billion of the additional £15 billion announced in the DIP. The remaining £4.7 billion will be confirmed at Budget 2026.

The government says most of the identified funding will come from reallocating spending from across government departments, while some additional spending power will be generated by freeing up existing funding already allocated to defence and transferring some costs from the MOD. Measures announced include:

• a 1% contribution from the capital budgets (funding used for long-term investment projects and infrastructure) of other government departments (amounting to £4 billion)
• additional contributions from the Department for Transport (up to £700m of savings from roads funding) and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (an additional £2 billion of savings), which have larger capital budgets
• around £1 billion from rationalising the MOD estate (asset sales) and reprioritising MOD spending, although the government has not specified where these savings will be made
• £2.4 billion associated with transferring responsibility for some costs of ongoing international objectives from the MOD to the Treasury, alongside additional procurement savings

The government says these measures will increase defence investment by “reprioritising public spending, acting within our fiscal rules and without taking resources away from day-to-day spending on frontline services”.

What does this mean for NATO spending commitments?

1 NATO-qualifying defence spending

When defence spending targets are discussed as a percentage of GDP, this usually relates to spending that meets the NATO definition of defence expenditure, rather than total departmental expenditure by the MOD. NATO's measure includes some defence-related spending outside the MOD budget.

As a member of NATO, the UK has committed to spending at least 2% of GDP on defence annually. At the 2025 NATO Summit in the Hague, allies agreed a new minimum target of 3.5% of GDP for defence spending by 2035.

The latest NATO estimates indicate that the UK spent 2.3% of GDP on defence in the 2025/26 financial year, ranking it 14th among NATO members on this measure.

The DIP states that, because of the additional investment announced, defence spending is expected to increase to 2.7% of GDP in 2027/28 (around 0.1 percentage points higher than was previously planned). The government expects spending to remain at 2.7% of GDP in the following two years. Spending at this level would represent the highest proportion of UK GDP spent on defence since the 1990s.

The DIP does not provide any indication of when the government expects to meet NATO’s 3.5% target, or how spending will increase between 2029/30 and the target date of 2035. However, it does restate the government’s commitment to reaching 3% of GDP in the next Parliament and says that this will be the government’s “number one priority” at the next Spending Review in 2027.

Funding priorities in the Defence Investment Plan

Strengthening warfighting readiness and embracing autonomous and AI technologies underpins much of the Defence Investment Plan.

Over the next decade, investment will be prioritised in five areas:

• Nuclear and specifically, delivery of the UK’s nuclear deterrent.
• Homeland defence.
• Delivery of a transformed Integrated Force. Early investment will focus on increasing the readiness and lethality of the armed forces.
• Support for Ukraine.
• Shaping global security, primarily through NATO, the Joint Expeditionary Force and through partnerships with the EU and other global partners.

Although priorities span the next decade, the DIP outlines specific funding for the key programmes and capabilities that the government is investing in over the next four financial years to 2029/30. Indications of spending between 2030 and 2035 are provided as overall estimates. The MOD has said that “unlike previous plans, between 2030 and 2035, we are leaving unallocated spending to allow us to respond to the evolving threat and seize new opportunities as technology advances” (Defence Investment Plan, p.13)

Where decisions have been made to disinvest in capabilities, the MOD says that it has ensured “there is a capability investment within this plan which mitigates these decisions” (Defence Investment Plan, p.25).

The following section sets out the main decisions of the DIP as they relate to:

• drones and autonomous systems
• enablers of an Integrated Force
• munitions
• naval capabilities
• British Army programmes
• Royal Air Force programmes
• the Defence nuclear programme
• innovative technologies
• people, industry and infrastructure.

Drones and autonomous systems

More than £5 billion will be invested in drones and autonomous systems across the armed forces over the next four years. Building on the recommendations of the SDR, the intention is to create a “flexible, integrated force”.

The funding will also support the Uncrewed Systems Centre, which was unveiled in Swindon on 12 June 2026, and the development of a new Uncrewed Systems Taskforce, which will work with industry to rapidly develop and field new autonomous capabilities and ensure that the UK can “continuously scale production”.

There will be investment in drones and autonomous systems across each of the services.

Royal Navy

In the transition to a “hybrid” navy, which will combine AI and autonomy with warships and aircraft, investment of at least £1.3 billion is earmarked for systems including:

• the Type 91 (an uncrewed missile platform)
• the Type 92 (an uncrewed sensing platform which will work alongside the Royal Navy’s frigate fleet to detect and track enemy submarines)
• the Type 93 (an extra-large uncrewed underwater vessel which will work alongside the conventional submarine fleet to track and destroy enemy submarines)
• the Type 94 (an uncrewed sensing platform designed to detect airborne threats to the hybrid navy or to the UK homeland)

Weapons systems for the Type 91 and Type 93 are being developed under the AUKUS pillar 2 signature project announced in May 2026.

In the 2030s, the intention is to expand the number of these platforms as the new Common Combat Vessel (see below) comes into service.

As part of the development of a Carrier Hybrid Air Wing (Project Pantheon), work will continue on the introduction of a jet-powered drone (Project Vanquish), to operate alongside the F-35B.

Investment will also continue in the autonomous Mine Hunting Capability programme, which is being jointly procured with France. £1.1 billion has been earmarked for the programme over the next four years.

British Army

To achieve a force that is “10x more lethal”, the British Army will receive investment in “inexpensive expendable autonomous systems and loitering munitions”, including through the Army’s Task Force Rapstone project. The DIP also commits to:

• Project Nyx, which will procure up to 24 autonomous armed drones by 2030 that will carry out reconnaissance, precision strikes and electronic warfare
• Project Corvus, which will procure up to 24 long-range surveillance drones to replace the Watchkeeper unmanned air system in the intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) role
• a new programme to rapidly develop and produce autonomous ground vehicles and their associated systems

Royal Air Force

£300 million has been earmarked for a new national Collaborative Combat Air programme to develop an autonomous fighter jet for the RAF which will fly alongside crewed aircraft (such as Tempest; see below). It will be capable of deploying from land bases or the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers, and a demonstrator aircraft is expected by at least 2030. It will form part of the RAF’s Future Combat Air System programme, which will consist of crewed aircraft, uncrewed platforms, next-generation weapons, networks and data sharing.

A new autonomous electronic warfare drone (Storm Shroud) will also enter service with the RAF in 2026.

Enablers of an integrated force

The SDR envisaged an “integrated force” model for the UK’s armed forces that has “digital enablement at its core”. Alongside greater use of AI and autonomy, it envisaged the creation, by 2027, of a “digital targeting web” that could connect “sensors, deciders and effectors” to create choice and speed in deciding the response to any identified threat, across all domains.

Digital targeting web

The DIP identifies nearly £7.3 billion for the development of a digital targeting web, and the digital infrastructure that supports it (referred to as the digital backbone). From 2030 to 2035, a further £17 billion is expected to be invested in the digital backbone and targeting web, incorporating all elements of the integrated force, including autonomous systems.

Cyber and space

£2.5 billion will be invested to sustain and grow the new Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Force, established by the SDR, while £3.2 billion has been earmarked for the procurement of new space capabilities, including space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities and an ability to protect critical national assets in orbit. Initial investment will also be made in a new integrated Air, Space and Missile Defence Operations Centre, which will combine the command and control of all air defence and space operations.

The in-service life of the Skynet 5 military communications satellites will be extended until the introduction of Skynet 6A, which has been delayed to 2027. The Skynet 6 Narrowband Satellite System programme has been cancelled, with a view to pursuing a different procurement route including “by investing in ‘space as a service’ options, alongside allies”.

Munitions

The SDR committed £6 billion in the current Parliament to be invested in munitions, including £1.5 billion in an ‘always on’ pipeline for munitions and the construction of at least six new energetics and munitions factories in the UK.

In addition to plans to procure expendable one-way autonomous systems (see above), the DIP outlines an increased investment of £11 billion in munitions and weapons to increase UK stockpiles and ensure “the right mix of capabilities”.

Those capabilities include low-cost cruise missiles and deep precision strike missiles, which are being developed in conjunction with Germany. The UK will also join the Precision Strike Missile programme alongside the US and Australia and invest £1.4 billion in the Stratus programme, which will develop a next-generation long-range missile in conjunction with France and Italy. The Storm Shadow missile will be phased out. The DIP states that the MOD will, however, conduct a review of the Stratus programme, in conjunction with industry partners, which will “look at all options regarding the future of the programme”. That review is due to report in September 2026.

The government will also continue to invest in the development of Directed Energy Weapons.

Naval capabilities

In addition to the autonomous systems outlined above, the DIP outlines several priorities for the Royal Navy.

Maritime air defence

At least six Common Combat Vessels will be procured, which will provide a next-generation maritime integrated air and missile defence and long-range precision strike capability to the Royal Navy. This is a role primarily performed by the current Type 45 destroyer.

The Common Combat Vessel will be the Royal Navy’s first hybrid warship, capable of acting as a hub for autonomous systems (see above). They will replace plans for a Type 83 destroyer, which was in its early design phase as part of the Future Air Dominance System project. Delivery is expected from the early 2030s. Funding for the programme over the four years will form part of the £1.3 billion earmarked for the overall development of a hybrid fleet (see above).

UK Commando Force

Over £500 million is committed for the continued transformation of UK Commando Force. That funding will include the acquisition of new high-speed Joint Commando Craft in collaboration with Norway, new strike drones and autonomous vessels, and investment in new larger amphibious ships through the Amphibious Transport Ship Programme, led by the Netherlands. That programme will replace the Multi-Role Strike Ship (MRSS) programme, which the MOD considers to be “too complex” and not reflective of the “UK Commando Force we are now pursuing”.

AUKUS submarines

The AUKUS-SSN programme will continue. The programme is funded through the ringfenced Defence Nuclear Enterprise (see below).

Frigate fleet

Older vessels of the Type 23 frigate fleet will be retired early, with a phased withdrawal expected up to 2033.

The Royal Navy remains committed, however, to delivering a combined fleet of 13 Type 26 frigates with Norway (eight for the UK), five Type 31 frigates and three new fleet solid support ships which provide munitions and supplies to Royal Navy vessels at sea.

Like the SDR, the DIP does not commit to the Type 32 frigate which was announced in November 2020 but has not progressed beyond the concept stage. The DIP states that the both the Type 83 (see above) and the Type 32 will be replaced with a hybrid fleet of crewed and uncrewed vessels.

Ice Patrol Vessel

Support for the UK’s Overseas Territories will be reinforced by replacing the UK’s ice patrol vessel, HMS Protector.

Seabed warfare

An additional £330 million will fund critical underwater infrastructure protection capabilities, including upgrades to RFA Proteus, the Royal Navy’s multi-role surveillance ship.

British Army programmes

Beyond the focus on autonomy and AI-enabled systems such as Project Asgard, the DIP outlines the MOD’s continued commitment to core warfighting capabilities including the Ajax armoured vehicles, Challenger 3 tank and Boxer combat vehicle programmes, the RCH-155 self-propelled artillery programme in collaboration with Germany, and investment in the Apache and Chinook helicopter fleets. The contract for a new medium helicopter was awarded in March 2026.

The DIP also outlines the MOD’s intention to “further build back British manufacturing” with plans to produce the army’s future rifle in the UK.

To deliver the army’s programme of transformation, the Wildcat battlefield helicopter will be withdrawn from service early, with a phased withdrawal beginning in 2027. The oldest Chinook Mk6 helicopters will also be withdrawn from service as they meet maintenance milestones.

Royal Air Force programmes

In addition to investment in autonomous systems for the RAF set out above, the DIP commits to funding for the next generation of fighter aircraft, a replacement for the Red Arrows Hawk T1 aircraft, and air and missile defence. To deliver on its commitments under the DIP, the Shadow R1 intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft will be retired from service early.

Global Combat Air Programme

More than £8 billion will be invested in the sixth generation Global Combat Air Programme (also known as Tempest) over the next four years.

Typhoon and F-35 force mix

Over £1.1 billion of new investment will be provided to sustain the Typhoon fleet into the 2040s.

The DIP also commits to purchasing the next batch of F-35 aircraft. This batch will include F-35A variants as part of the government’s commitment to join the NATO nuclear sharing mission, which it announced in June 2025. The DIP says that the purchase of the F-35A is in addition to investment outlined for the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (see below).

Replacement for the Hawk T1 Red Arrows aircraft

The Hawk T1 aircraft is used as the platform for the Red Arrows, while the Hawk T2 is used by the RAF as an advanced jet trainer.

Fast jet training has been under review by the MOD with a view to replacing the Hawk aircraft and bringing any replacement aircraft within the framework of the UK Military Flying Training System, which delivers pilot training across all three services.

The DIP commits to recapitalising the jet trainer system programme and the procurement of a new aircraft to replace the Hawk, including as a platform for the Red Arrows. It says that the programme will “deliver both sovereign and international training and with a significant UK workshare”. BAE Systems’ Hawk production line in the UK closed in 2020, leaving the UK with no sovereign industrial capability for manufacturing fast jet training aircraft.

Maritime Patrol Aircraft

The Poseidon P8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft will continue to receive an upgrade and be equipped with Stingray torpedoes. The upgrade was first announced in 2023. The DIP makes no reference to the SDR’s recommendation that the RAF explores options to enable the Protector remotely piloted air system to conduct maritime surveillance operations and therefore expand its use.

Integrated Air and Missile Defence

The RAF is the lead command for providing homeland integrated air and missile defence (IAMD). The SDR committed to up to £1 billion for IAMD, although provided little detail on where that funding would be focused.

Under the DIP, £790 million will be committed over the next four years to protecting the UK homeland and overseas bases from air, drone and missile threats. This will include new radars, sensors and command and control systems, along with further investment in directed energy weapons and counter drone systems (Project Presagium). The Sea Viper system deployed on the current Type 45 destroyers will also be upgraded.

A new Integrated Air, Space and Missile Defence Operations Centre will also be established.

From the early 2030s, the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (see above) is expected to play a key role in IAMD.

Defence nuclear programme

More than £63 billion will be invested in the defence nuclear programme over the next four years, which will, among other things, continue to fund the UK’s nuclear deterrent replacement programme (the Dreadnought SSBN programme and the replacement warhead programme), infrastructure upgrades across the defence nuclear estate and the conventional SSN-AUKUS programme (see above). It will also inform the successor programme to the Dreadnought SSBN. The budget for the Defence Nuclear Enterprise will remain ringfenced and account for between 20% and 25% of the MOD’s overall budget.

As outlined above, the DIP also commits to purchasing new F-35A aircraft, which will enable the UK’s participation in the NATO nuclear sharing mission.

Innovative technologies

The 2025 SDR established the UK Defence Innovation Fund as a focal point for innovation and to streamline the delivery of innovative technologies. The DIP confirms that:

• £580 million in infrastructure funding will be made available to the Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory over the next four years to expand its research in innovative defence technologies.
• £1.6 billion has been ringfenced for the UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) fund to 2030. The intention to ringfence £400 million a year for UKDI was first set out in the SDR in 2025.
• £100 million will be ringfenced for the new Rapid AI Delivery Taskforce, which will accelerate the deployment of AI-enabled capabilities. Specific AI investment will also be made in land command and control, underwater surveillance, and in transformational AI through Project Frontier.

The DIP also confirms the target, set out in the SDR, for 10% of the defence equipment budget to be spent on novel technologies including AI, autonomy and quantum.

People, industry and infrastructure

In contrast to previous equipment plans, the DIP approaches spending priorities within the context of the entire defence enterprise. This reflects the call in the SDR for a “whole of society” approach to defence.

The DIP therefore also examines investment priorities for people, the defence industrial base and the defence estate.

People and veterans

The main focus will be on recruitment and retention, the reserves, strengthening the global defence diplomacy network and the delivery of veteran’s initiatives including the full roll-out of the VALOUR programme.

This funding will also support the “National Conversation”, a campaign to improve public awareness and strengthen national resilience. The aim set out in the SDR to achieve a 30% increase in the size of the cadet force by 2030 has been revised to 2035.

Defence industrial base

Procurement reform is already underway within the MOD. Priority will also be given to implementing the 2025 Defence Industrial Strategy and measures to strengthen the defence industrial base in the UK, such as the Defence Growth Deals initiative, and to strengthen defence skills, including by investing in new defence technical colleges.

Defence estate and infrastructure

Among other things, the DIP confirms £9 billion of investment in defence housing over the next decade, and that the outcome of an ongoing review into Single Living Accommodation (SLA) will inform how £1.4 billion of earmarked investment for SLA is spent.

The DIP also commits to improving base infrastructure and security, both in the UK and overseas. This includes commitments to existing programmes and £26 billion of investment over the next decade into upgrading His Majesty’s Naval Base (HMNB) Devonport, HMNB Portsmouth and HMNB Clyde (Project Royal Oak).

Corrections and clarifications

On 2 July 2026, we edited sentences in section 'Typhoon and F-35 force mix' and section 'Defence nuclear programme'. These sentences previously suggested that the DIP committed the government to purchasing a batch of 27 F-35 aircraft, including 12-F35A variants. In 2025, the government announced that it would order this number of aircraft, but the DIP did not explicitly provide a number.