The United Kingdom will “dramatically” increase the production of weapons in the coming months. Is it preparing for a large conflagration, like a third world war?
As part of a sweeping rearmament strategy, Defense Secretary John Healey has announced that the UK will invest $2 billion in new weapons factories. “The hard-fought lessons from [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine show a military is only as strong as the industry that stands behind it,” Healey said in a statement on Saturday, as quoted by RT.
The move comes ahead of the publication of the government’s Strategic Defense Review on Monday. The plan includes the construction of at least six new munitions and explosives factories and the procurement of more than 7,000 domestically produced long-range weapons, including drones and missiles. Healey has also pledged to raise defense spending to 3% of GDP by 2034. –RT
“We are strengthening the UK’s industrial base to deter our adversaries better and make the UK secure at home and strong abroad.”
“We welcome investment in new munitions factories, but we don’t know when they will be ready – only that these orders should have been placed months ago,” said Conservative shadow defense secretary James Cartlidge.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has highlighted weapons shortfalls in the West as senior British officers have warned for months about depleted stockpiles, according to the BBC.
This news comes as the UK announced it’ll ramp up its support of the war, boosting the Ukrainian side. This is meant to send a “message to Moscow”, the defense secretary has said, as he warned Russia was launching cyber-attacks on UK military networks “every day”.
Moscow has repeatedly warned that foreign military assistance would only escalate the conflict without altering its eventual outcome. Russian officials have also accused former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson of encouraging Ukraine to abandon peace negotiations in the spring of 2022 – a claim Johnson has denied. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed his denial as a “blatant lie.”
Moscow has repeatedly warned that foreign military assistance from Western countries would only escalate the conflict without altering its eventual outcome. Russian officials have also accused former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson of encouraging Ukraine to abandon peace negotiations in the spring of 2022 – a claim Johnson has denied. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed his denial as a “blatant lie.”
Russia Warns Of “Red Lines” Being Crossed…Again
Read the full article here