A Forecast International blog about the arms trade, geopolitics, defense and security, and military spending.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer made a surprise announcement to the House of Commons on February 25, outlining plans to increase the British defense budget to 2.5 percent per year …
Keir Starmer’s U.K. Defense Spending Pledge Comes with Asterisks Read More
The British Ministry of Defense expects to move forward with a contract for the New Medium Helicopter (NMH) in 2025, a defense official said at a parliamentary hearing this week. …
U.K. to Order New Medium Helicopter in 2025 Read More
On November 20, U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey announced a slate of decommissioning initiatives aimed at saving £500 million ($623 million) over five years. The equipment slated for retirement, the …
Ahead of Strategic Defense Review, UK Defense Secretary Announces Equipment Cuts Read More Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, has announced a £2.9 billion ($3.77 billion) hike for the defense budget in fiscal year 2025-2026. The announcement came as the chancellor presented …
Labor Government Pledges More Funding Next Year for U.K. Defense, But Hard Questions Await Read More The U.K. Royal Navy intends to purchase up to six new-build multirole support ships (MRSSs) as well as provide its future Type 26 and Type 31 frigates with ship-to-shore land-attack …
British Royal Navy to Purchase Six Multirole Support Ships, Bolster National Shipbuilding in Process Read More
The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced that it will move forward with procurement of 14 Boeing extended-range CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters following a nearly three-year postponement due largely …
U.K. Ready to Move Forward with Extended-Range Chinook Procurement Read More
The Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) is a multinational collaborative project aimed at producing a sixth-generation fighter aircraft by the United Kingdom, Italy, and Japan. GCAP is the merging result …
BRIEFER: Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) Read More
In what has been described by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as the “biggest single investment in Australia’s defense capability in all our history,” Albanese and his counterparts from the …
AUKUS Nuclear Submarine Details Come to Light Read More As the United Kingdom confronts labor disputes, a struggling National Health Service, a possible recession, and post-Brexit depression, the nation’s formerly renowned military faces its own reckoning. While British munitions …
The British Military’s Winter of Discontent Read More
The British Ministry of Defence has awarded BAE Systems a GBP4.2 billion ($4.97 billion) contract for a second batch of Type 26 frigates destined for the Royal Navy. The new …
U.K. Defence Ministry Orders Type 26 Batch 2 Frigates Read More