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A “bolder, more radical” UK Strategic Defence Review will be published within two weeks, says key reviewer

22nd May 2025 - 10:45 GMT | by Lucy Powell in London, UK

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The Global Combat Air Programme is likely to be included in the SDR. (Photo: BAE Systems)

The UK Strategic Defence Review, which was anticipated to be published by mid-2025, has been given a more definitive release date by the report’s lead reviewer.

The UK government’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR) is expected to be published within the “next fortnight”, one of the chief external reviewers on the project, former NATO secretary general Lord Robertson, has said.

According to Lord Robertson, speaking at the Royal Aeronautical Society’s FCAS Summit event on 21 May, the final draft of the SDR was submitted to the government two months ago and will be made public as soon as it can be moved “out of the Treasury”.

In July 2024, the current UK government ordered a ‘root and branch’ review be conducted of UK defence that would assess and

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