UK Prime Minister David Cameron has said that more resources should be allocated to unmanned air vehicles and surveillance aircraft, indicating that the upcoming Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) could include more spending on these capabilities.
Ahead of a visit on 13 July to RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire – the home of the UK’s surveillance fleet, including the armed General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Reaper UAV – Cameron said that the UK’s recently pledged 2% GDP defence spending needs to be spent on key areas, including UAVs, special forces and counter-terrorism assets.
“Now we know how much we will spend; what matters next is how we spend it,” Cameron says. “I have tasked the defence and security chiefs to look specifically at how we do more to counter the threat posed by ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and Levant] and Islamist extremism.
“This could include more spy planes, drones and special forces. In the past five years, I have seen just how vital these assets are in keeping us safe.”
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The UK is involved in the air strike campaign against Islamic extremists in Iraq, and defence secretary Michael Fallon started a discussion in the House of Commons on 2 July on whether or not this should extend into neighbouring Syria.
Royal Air Force platforms such as the Reaper, Panavia Tornado GR4, Raytheon Sentinel R1 and the Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint have been involved in operations in Iraq, with the Tornado and Reaper providing the strike capability and the others providing surveillance. The UK is also giving surveillance support over Syria to other nations involved in the campaign.
“In order to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of the fight against extremism, it is important to continue investing in this area,” the government says.
The government also hinted that the launch of UAVs from ships was an upcoming priority. It noted that Cameron wants the SDSR to explore how best to work with nations such as the USA to ensure that the UK’s aircraft carriers will be able to project UAVs, special forces and strike capabilities “to wherever the terrorist threat is found”.
NATO nations pledged in September 2014 that they would work towards committing 2% of GDP to defence spending – although the UK claims to be one of only five that is doing so – a commitment that was affirmed by the Conservative British government when its 2015 budget was released in early July.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
