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Thu, 23 Jul 2026

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 UK complacent about war threat, warns defence boss

The threat of attack has never been higher, the boss of Europe's biggest defence contractor has warned. Dr Charles Woodburn

* BAE Systems CEO Dr Charles Woodburn warns that the UK has been too complacent about foreign threats, particularly from Russia.
* He says the level of threat is the highest he's seen in his lifetime and welcomes recent boosts to defence spending but believes more will be needed to hit the government's 3.5% GDP target by 2035.
* Woodburn warns that autonomous lethal weapons are becoming increasingly prevalent and the UK needs to invest in capabilities to counter them.
* He says the combination of manned and unmanned aircraft is the "winning" formula, but traditional battleships and submarines still have a role to play.
* BAE Systems has unveiled a model of an unmanned fighter jet, called Brontanax, which can operate at 20% of the cost of a piloted aircraft.
* Woodburn believes that defence spending needs to increase significantly to hit the government's target, with current spending only reaching 2.68% of GDP by 2030.
* He welcomes former Defence Secretary John Healey's promotion to Chancellor and says he understands what is needed in terms of defence spending.
* The UK's armed forces have dwindled since the end of the Cold War, with numbers decreasing from 153,000 regular soldiers in 1990 to just 74,000 today.