UK boosts defense spending in response to Russia and China

News Summary

  • Britain currently spends just over 2% of GDP on defense, and military chiefs want it to rise to 3%.The extra money will be used, in part, to replenish Britain’s ammunition stocks, depleted from supplying Ukraine in its defense against Russia.
  • Sunak said the U.K. would increase military spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product “in the longer term,” but didn’t set a date.
  • intelligence agencies have expressed growing concern about China’s military might, covert activities and economic muscle.
  • The government ordered an update in response to an increasingly volatile world.
  • Most of the U.K. construction will take place in shipyards at Barrow-in-Furness in northwest England, with the first subs completed by the late 2030s.
LONDON (AP) British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged Monday to increase U.K. military funding by 5 billion pounds ($6 billion) over the next two years in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine and [+2631 chars]