Strategic Defence Review 2025

Earl of Courtown Excerpts

Friday 18th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Courtown (Con)]

My Lords, as other noble Lords have said, this has been a highly informative and fascinating debate, wide-ranging in many ways, from the forensic speech of the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Stirrup, to the comments made by my noble friend Lord Harlech on the reservist infrastructure. I echo the spirit of the House and praise the noble Lord, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, for facilitating this debate. I also thank the other reviewers, General Sir Richard Barrons and Dr Fiona Hill. The review they have produced is clearly very thorough and thought-provoking. It also makes 62 recommendations to the Government, ranging from the “NATO first” policy to establishing an integrated force to expanding our space capabilities, as my noble friend Lady Goldie mentioned.

It is welcome that the Government have accepted all the recommendations, but this review is just the start. The reviewers have delivered their report and recommendations. The ball now lies firmly in the Government’s court. It is their actions on implementation, as mentioned by many noble Lords, that will be key to how the defence of our nation develops and meets the challenges of the future. It is to the practicalities and resource implications that I will therefore direct my focus.

In the Statement repeat in this House on the publication of the strategic defence review, my noble friend Lord Minto raised the issue of naval assets. The review mentions the term “amphibious” only three times. The Government scrapped HMS “Albion” and HMS “Bulwark” last year, meaning that currently we have only three Bay-class ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary that can, when called up, conduct such operations. This is an unprecedented capability gap and leaves us behind other NATO countries. France has three Mistral-class landing helicopter docks in addition to its “Charles de Gaulle” aircraft carrier, and Italy has three San Giorgio-class landing platform docks that are due to be replaced at the end of the decade, therefore Britain is currently falling behind both France and Italy. I understand why the Government took the decision to scrap “Bulwark” and “Albion”, but we are now faced with the fact that we do not possess these capabilities, and it seems we do not have a plan to replace them. The nature of naval warfare is changing, as the review acknowledges, but it is not outside the realms of possibility that we might need to possess the ability to launch complex amphibious operations in the future. Furthermore, the SDR states that the Royal Navy will need to move forward a so-called hybrid carrier airwing incorporating crewed fighters, unmanned systems and rotary.

Throughout, the review speaks of greater integration of UAVs. However, at the moment, the UK falls behind our peers in our adoption of drones. Last year, the Government scrapped the Watchkeeper drones used by the Army. In his Statement to the other place announcing that last year, the Secretary of State for Defence wrote:

“Following the retirement of Watchkeeper Mk 1, the Army will rapidly switch to a new advanced capability, drawing on the most recent operational lessons and technological developments”.—[Official Report, Commons, 20/11/24; col. 239WS.]


How will the Government rapidly switch to a new drone capability? Have they begun the procurement process for expanding our drone capabilities? They must purchase one-way attack drones and unmanned combat aircraft as a matter of urgency. Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine has demonstrated the rapidly changing war-fighting dynamic. As things stand, the UK is being left behind.

Furthermore, there is a significant issue with Typhoon. It was reported last year that production of Typhoon aircraft at the Warton factory was grinding to a halt due to a lack of orders. BAE reports that there are some orders in the works, but crucially, none of them from the MoD. This is concerning given that the RAF does not currently possess any Tranche 4 Typhoons. Germany, Italy, Qatar and Spain all have Tranche 4 fighters, but the UK does not. Again, this is an area where we are falling behind. A recent MoD press release stated that Typhoons are going to be the “backbone” of the RAF well into the next decade. If this is so, our current fleet of Typhoons will soon become outdated. The Eurofighter consortium has even released the Tranche 4 plus and Tranche 5 aircraft. Purchasing the latest Typhoons is crucial. If the factory in Warton does not receive new orders imminently, we risk the possibility of job losses at the site. Those incredibly skilled individuals will be central to our ability to build global combat air programme fighters in the future. We must maintain a sovereign manufacturing capability. New Typhoon orders would not only shore up the factory in Warton, thereby securing jobs and skills, but would ensure that the RAF can face the threats of the future.

My noble friend Lady Goldie mentioned the role of the space domain, as did other noble Lords. I will pick up on one point. Footnote 90 of the review notes that the previous Government established the National Space Council, recognising the importance of space to the future of our defence, but that it was not reconstituted after the 2024 election. It recommends that there should be a reinvigorated Cabinet sub-committee to set the strategic approach to space. Will the Government follow through on this and, if so, when? As always, this has been an invigorating debate on an important review, and I look forward to the Minister’s response.