UK Unable to Defend Against Ballistic Missile Attack, IISS Warns
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- Starmer, Reeves under pressure to ramp up military spending
Members of a UK Artillery unit prepare to fire shells from an Archer mobile Howitzer during live fire testing in Rovaniemi, Finland, on Nov. 18.
Photographer: Leon Neal/Getty ImagesThe UK lacks the capacity to defend itself against a ballistic missile attack, security experts warned, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer comes under mounting pressure to ramp up defense spending.
Integrated air and missile defense is an “ambition,” but “not the reality” in Europe, Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told journalists in London on Wednesday. While it depends on the nature of the threat and what weapon is used, “the UK does not have the capability” to defend against a concentrated intercontinental ballistic missile attack, he said.