British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak poised to announce new warship programme, after being pressured by MPs from his Conservative Party to promise in the pre-election program to increase defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by a certain date, reported the Financial Times newspaper, quoted by BNR.< br />
The Prime Minister is expected to outline plans next month for new multi-role support ships that will help strengthen Britain's ability to conduct amphibious warfare, the Financial Times has been told. people familiar with the matter. The National Shipbuilding Strategy, last updated two years ago, outlined plans for one class of multi-purpose support vessel to enter service in the early 2030s, which would replace the current amphibious fleet consisting of a mix of warships and support vessels.< /p>
Officials warned that the government had not yet signed off on new funding for the plans. It is not yet clear how the order will be structured and whether it will be subject to competition between British shipbuilders. Currently, warships are always built in the UK. The new program is likely to be split into two batches of three ships each.
The announcement of the new program comes as Tory MPs mount a new campaign to force Sunak to commit to higher defense spending. The prime minister said he would increase defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP, "when economic conditions permit.