Defense spending

UK conventional procurement being hollowed out to pay for Successor SSBNs

The UK is proposing to spend just under GBP44 billion (USD58 billion) on its current and future inventory of nuclear weapons, and their submarine launched delivery systems up to 2025, according to the latest official figures.

However, over the same period UK spending on equipment for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Navy, and enabling capabilities under the control of Joint Forces Command (JFC) will decline significantly.

The details of the top level budget figures for the UK's defence equipment spending plans by military service were revealed for the first time in the UK Ministry of Defence's (MoD's) annual report for 2015-16, which was published on 14 July.

Plans to replace the UK's existing Vanguard class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) were approved by parliament on 18 July.