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27 Jul 22. Defence needs more money because the threat has gone up, Defence Secretary says. Mr Wallace said with an increase in defence spending certain equipment programmes could be bought faster across the tri-service. Defence needs more money because the “threat has gone up”, according to the Defence Secretary.
Ben Wallace said in an interview that he is “threat-led” and warned that, without a guarantee of significant new funding, overall defence spending was forecast to fall below a core NATO target of 2% of national income by the second half of the decade.
In an interview with Sky News, Mr Wallace highlighted that, at present, UK defence spending is 2.28% of national income “and falling”.
Future PM
Mr Wallace has yet to say publicly whether he is backing Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak in the Conservative leadership contest – both have offered different responses to defence spending.
The Defence Secretary is going to “see what happens in the debates” he told Sky News. He said he will be specifically “interested in what they are going to say on defence.”
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said she would increase defence spending to 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of the decade.
Whereas Mr Sunak believes in maintaining the current level of defence spending, refusing to commit to the “arbitrary targets”. But he has stated that 2% of the GDP NATO target is a “floor, not a ceiling”.
The Defence Secretary has always been clear that, as the threat changes, so should defence spending.
Impact on Forces’ capabilities
Mr Wallace said that with an increase in defence spending – up to 3% of GDP by 2030 – certain equipment programmes would probably be bought faster for the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.
Additionally, the Defence Secretary noted that the Army would carry out a review of what lessons can be drawn from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, addressing any vulnerabilities in the UK defence that would need fixing.
According to reports, this could include a requirement for more long-range artillery systems.
“I think you would see an increase in the numbers of the Army, but not necessarily where people think,” Mr Wallace said, noting that all military mass has to be “relevant”.
He said the lessons from Ukraine are that “you are better off having small, but perfectly formed, armoured infantry units… than you are having lots and lots of vehicles with none of those protections because they just get killed on a modern battlefield.” (Source: forces.net)
26 Jul 22. Tempest program, Russian invasion drive growth in Italy’s defense budget. Italy has hiked defense spending again as it showers cash on the Tempest fighter program in 2022 and radically upgrades its forecast for its total spending on the sixth-generation program.
The newly released 2022 budget includes €18bn (U.S. $18.4bn) in defense ministry spending, up from the €16.8bn spent in 2021, which was in turn an increase from previous years.
The part of the budget devoted to procurement stands at €5.42bn, a 34% jump on the €4bn spent in 2021.
A true picture of Italian procurement spending should include the annual top-up for domestic procurement provided by the Italian industry ministry, which amounts to €2.43bn, a slight dip from last year’s €2.7bn.
Overall procurement this year then totals €7.85bn, up from €6.76bn last year, which in turn was up from €5.45bn in 2020.
In his introduction to the budget document, Italian defense minister Lorenzo Guerini said the Russian invasion of Ukraine made preparing for conventional warfare a priority.
“In this context, there can be no doubts over the need to follow the path of growth in defense spending,” he wrote.
The document predicted the upward trend in procurement spending would, however, stop next year, with an expected total outlay of €6.18 bn.
The document calculated that defense spending this year, including the ministry of industry top-up and separately voted funds to cover oversea military missions, totals €21.58bn.
One program benefiting from a big boost in funding was the Tempest fighter, which teams Italy with the UK and Sweden.
After last year predicting annual spending in 2022 and 2023 of €20m each year, the new budget commits €220m this year and forecasts €345m next year.
Last year, the budget document predicted an overall spend of €2bn on the program — this year, planners have revised that estimate to €3.8bn by 2036. The document predicts cash will begin to flow next year for the procurement of two of three planned amphibious vessels for the Italian navy, with an expected life time budget for the program of €1.2bn by 2036.
Interest is also growing in a new tracked fighting vehicle to replace Italy’s Dardo vehicles. Last year, the budget document said Italy expected to spend €2.14bn on the program. This year, the forecast has risen to €3.74bn, with spending expected to start in 2024 and last 13 years after Italy decides on international partners.
Other spending this year includes €510m on new U-212NFS submarines, €1.4bn on the Eurofighter program and €1.27bn on Italy’s ongoing F-35 procurement program. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Defense News)
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