SDR 2024/25

There is to be another Strategic Defence Review, its being going for a while just showing that all new governments need one; and I am of the view that it is clear that the Tories left the Armed Forces in a very poor position. Here as ever are my links and notes …

The SDR has issued a “call for evidence”; which has a link to the Terms of Reference.

Mary Kaldor critiques the Terms of Reference in the Chartist.

A starting point is that we live in a world in which we face existential threats to humanity, including, but not only, a major war. National security used to mean the defence of British people and British territory from attacks by a foreign state. Nowadays, the only way to guarantee the security of British people and British territory is through a more secure world. This is why a contemporary version of national security needs to be based on human security, which is about the security of individual human beings and the communities in which they live anywhere in the planet, from both physical threats (violence) and material threats (famine, climate change, pandemics etc.), not to mention virtual threats emanating from cyber attacks and misinformation. Human security is linked to the idea of a law based world, especially international humanitarian law and human rights law, what Ruti Teitel calls ‘humanity’s law’. And human security entails a collective approach where the UK contributes to global efforts to address existential threats.

Mary Kaldor – The Chartist

Articles on this wiki, tagged ‘defence’. See also UK Defence Review 2020 and Defending the UK both on this wiki and articles on on my blog tagged ‘defence’.

1. Strategy, mostly Paul Mason,
   • on his substack, “the challenges facing the strategic defence review” , I summarise on my diigo entry, “… on the need for good results from the SDR24. He argues we need an effective threat definition, and a comprehensive military capability, capable of defence, requiring the reinvestment in defence manufacturing. He also argues that the UK also needs to invest in the multilateral rule of law institutions but does not mention the ICC.”
   • What would UK rearmament cost? dated March 16th 2024, he argies to plug the gaps, sustain Ukraine, rearm. This is a concise and effective definition of the problem, and asks some questions on the macro-economic impact; Paul is optimistic that the multiplier effect makes it highly positive.
   • Mason again, on the expenditure needs of an effective defence policy, UK defence spending debate gets real on Medium, “The three unanswered questions in British defence policy circles remain, however: by how much, why and how to spend it?“
   • Trump victory poses tough strategic choices for UK by Mason on medium. We need to stand with Ukraine, develop a Euro-centric vision for NATO and hike defence spending. He mentions in passing the possible asymmetric warfare from MAGA, and the constitutional (and treaty) constraints on European state borrowing. One fear highlighted is that Trump’s US will reduce its intelligence contribution to NATO. He also talks of the need for an integrated manufacturing capability if there is to be a European led NATO.
   • My views on my blog on Labour’s 23 defence debate, where I argued that Labour’s defence policy was designed to protect the leadership from the Labour Left be they pacifists or paleo-stalinists, and on Johnson’s defence splurge., dated 2020, where I criticise the return East of Suez, and finish with, “Outside the EU, NATO becomes important than ever, and as socialists we need to oppose our continued co-option to the USA’s dreams of a Pax-Americana.”
2. Security of supply
   • One critical Army weapon bought from the USA is the Guided multiple launch rocket system (gmlrs) made by Lockheed Martin, Google AU reports, “Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control manufactures the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS). The British army’s M270B1 is an upgraded version of the American M270 MLRS” See also another British Army reference to the HIMARs. The MoD is buying more.
   • Mason again, To GCAP or not to GCAP, he argues that we need the capability, and security of supply, and that in the short term we could/should get some more Typhoons aka Eurofighter and suspend the F35 purchases. He interestingly categorises the military weaknesses of the F35.
   • https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/rafs-first-wedgetail-reveals-new-colours/ designed and manufactured in the USA, with US avionics. Some work is done in Birmingham.
   • The CAAT view on the UK’s US purchases, May 2021.
3. Equipment issues
   • See my blog on army helicopters and Tanks.
   • On size and equipment, the US DOD occasionally suggests they are concerned.
   • An article on the recent cuts; Britain’s defence cuts outlined and explained from the UK defence journal site.