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The UK Ministry of Defence has (MoD) will invest over £1 billion in digital battlefield technology, as part of its upcoming Strategic Defence Review
At the heart of the announcement is the creation of a new ‘Cyber and Electromagnetic Command’, which will expand the UK’s capacity to launch and defend against cyberattacks. It will coordinate both offensive and defensive cyber activities, alongside the National Cyber Force, helping to unify the operations of the RAF, Army, and Navy.
The new command will oversee the development of a Digital Targeting Web, an AI-powered “kill web” system that links sensors, satellites, drones, aircraft and ground forces to speed up battlefield decisions. The technology, expected to be in use by 2027, mirrors Ukraine’s successful use of connected systems to identify and strike enemy targets more quickly.
The unit will also handle electromagnetic warfare, from jamming drones to intercepting enemy communications, strengthening the UK’s ability to disrupt enemy command-and-control systems.
Since 2023, the MoD has been subjected to 90,000 cyber-attacks, including from Russia and China. UK Defence Secretary John Healey described the attacks as “a level of cyber warfare that is continual and intensifying that requires us to step up our capacity to defend.”
“We are under daily attack, increasing attacks, and this is the nerve centre of the UK’s military that helps us defend against these attacks. The keyboard is now a weapon of war, and we are responding to that,” he continued.
The announcement comes as part of the government’s broader commitment to raise defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, with a potential increase to 3% in the next parliament.
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