Britain developing Iron Dome as ‘the Russian threat evolves’, defence chief tells LBC

Sir Richard told Andrew Marr the UK is developing an Iron Dome as "Russia's capability and willingness to use ballistic and cruise missiles has become more apparent".

The Chief of the Defence Staff explained: "We call it integrated air and missile defence, and we have, over 30 years, not really faced a threat from the air in that way.

"The threat has evolved, Russia's capability and willingness to use ballistic and cruise missiles has become more apparent.

"It's been become clear that that peace dividend needs to be reversed, and we need to invest more in our radar capability, in our airborne air defence, and also in, ultimately, our ability to shoot down these drones and cruise missiles."

An Iron Dome is a mobile air defence system, developed by Israel, to intercept and destroy incoming short-range rockets, artillery shells, and drones.

This comes as Defence Secretary John Healey told the House of Commons that more than a third of the £400 million annual budget for UK Defence Innovation will be spent on developing and deploying drone capabilities to protect the UK and its allies, citing increasing Russian drone activity and wider hostile state behaviour.

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Britain’s intelligence and military leadership deliver unusually blunt warnings about the scale of the threat posed by Russia, and the need for what they describe as a national shift in mindset.

The new head of MI6, Blaise Metreweli, used her first major public speech on Monday to describe Russia as “aggressive, expansionist and revisionist”, warning that “the front line is everywhere” and that modern conflict now blends sabotage, cyber-attacks, information warfare and technological disruption.

Responding to suggestions the UK is far behind the US and Israel in homeland defence capabilities, Sir Richard said: "So we know right across NATO that one of the biggest gaps in NATO's capability is integrated air and missile defence, and we are part of that as the UK.

"That’s one of the highest priorities that the Secretary General set at the Washington summit last year, and I know that that will be an issue that will come up at the NATO Ankara summit in 2026. We will be responding to that as a nation, alongside our allies. And there is a lot to do."

The UK already boasts some missile defence. Typhoon fighter jets are able to shoot down cruise missiles and Type 45 Destroyers provide some of this capability.

"We'll definitely see improvements by the end of the decade," Sir Richard said.

"But it's really important to recognise that even if you look at Israel, which is a small country, kind of size of Wales in terms of square area, even with all of its Iron Dome capabilities, it is not a foolproof mechanism."

The Iron Dome has a 90% success rate, according to manufacturer Rafael.