\n
The Conservatives said the system would have three components – new advanced radar systems, upgraded command and control systems to integrate information from across Britain’s defences and rapidly decide a response, and new interceptor missiles as well as counter-drone capabilities.<\/p>\n
The three-tiered design of the proposal is similar to the British Army’s current Sky Sabre air defence system.<\/p>\n
This system – which can intercept munitions and aircraft as well as integrate with wider air defences – was deployed by the UK to the Middle East earlier this year for defensive action against Iranian attacks.<\/p>\n
Sidharth Kaushal, a senior fellow at the defence and security think tank RUSI (the Royal United Services Institute), said \u00a310bn would “probably cover” what the UK “actually needs” including horizon radar and more E-7 aircraft.<\/p>\n
“In contrast, if what the Conservatives envision is a truly Israeli-style multi-layered missile defence system, \u00a310bn probably wouldn’t get there,” he said.<\/p>\n
“But that system would also be quite superfluous, arguably.”<\/p>\n
Prof Steven Barrett, CEO of Cambridge Aerospace which has been developing interceptor missiles, told the BBC \u00a310bn was a “significant commitment” but the exact cost of the project would depend on the detail of the Conservatives’ proposal.<\/p>\n
He said that it would not be practical for the system to defend “every square inch” of UK territory and a more plausible setup would cover “significant parts of the population in key high density areas”.<\/p>\n
He also said there needed to be a focus on protecting critical national infrastructure, adding that a “huge amount of damage” could be done if data centres used by transport and health systems came under attack.<\/p>\n
In his speech at the conference in Birmingham, shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said: “With a \u00a310bn budget, this would be one of Britain’s most significant military programmes since the Cold War.<\/p>\n
“But one that is totally necessary because of the threats we face.”<\/p>\n
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said in response: “They [the Conservatives] cut the Army to its smallest size since Napoleon and left a \u00a317bn hole in the equipment plan.<\/p>\n
“Their own defence secretary, Ben Wallace, admitted our Armed Forces had been ‘hollowed out and underfunded’.”<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been under pressure to set out how he will reach Nato’s 3.5% of GDP spending target by 2035, up from an estimated 2.6% this year.<\/p>\n
The current Labour government’s Defence Investment Plan includes more than \u00a3350m to double the number of Sky Sabre systems operated by the British Army, with ground-based air defence sitting alongside air and maritime capabilities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n