RUSI deputy: UK needs longer procurement plans and improved awareness of US sift to Indo-Pacific
Procurement programmes such as New Medium Helicopter, which will replace the army's Pumas among others, are being evaluated under the UK government’s review. (Photo: UK MoD/Crown Copyright)
The UK budget announced in Parliament on 30 October was the first by a Labour government in 14 years which has also launched a review into defence procurement programmes.
European NATO countries need to acknowledge that the US government is increasingly focused on the Indo-Pacific region, according to RUSI deputy director general Professor Malcolm Chalmers, who also said the UK needed longer procurement planning.
Speaking at a UK’s Defence Committee spending hearing days after the UK budget and amid an ongoing Strategic Defence Review (SDR), Chalmers said that there was a feeling UK forces were “hollowed” out.
On 30 October the UK government committed to spending an additional £2.9 billion (US$3.8 billion) on defence in the next financial year as part of an effort to reach a target of spending
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