The UK must expand its military position in the Arctic, to review the defense to say

The UK must expand its military imprint in the Arctic and the north in the north, where the region has become increasingly disputed due to the melting of marine ice, and it is scheduled to recommend a government defense review.

The document is expected to call for a major investment in drones and edge technology, against the background of a new era of conflict, according to the people familiar with it.

The review will be confirmed by the United Kingdom “The First NATO” approach to defenseGive priority to the security of the backyard of Britain in the European Atlantic region and fulfill the obligations to the coalition.

John Healy, the Minister of Defense, was previously a shaped “tilt” the recent conservative administration towards the Indian Pacific Ocean in Defense and Foreign Policy.

The review is led by an independent team headed by former Secretary -General, George Robertson, and was asked to examine the threats facing Britain, the necessary capabilities to meet them, as well as the state of the armed forces.

The review was severely affected by the transformation of US President Donald Trump in security policy, including his intention to refine US military resources in Europe.

There was controversy over the timing of the review publication, which the government promised in the first half of 2025. Defense officials described it as a “repetitive process”, a fourth version was presented to the ministers on March 10, according to people familiar with the matter.

Focusing on the Atlantic Ocean region, the review recommends that the UK escalate military activity in the upper north, including the Arctic.

New shipping methods open due to the melting of the ice, which makes the rich natural resources in the region, oil, gas, minerals, and rare ground minerals, easier. This competition has disturbed the influence and control of competitors, including the United States, Russia, China and northern Europe.

The United Kingdom has already expressed concerns about the escalating militarization in Russia in the region, and Healy traveled to Norway in February to discuss strengthening its security.

Trump, at the same time, retreated pressure Denmark should give up Greenland Island in the Arctic to the United States, which sparked a diplomatic line.

One of the industry experts said that the recent publication of ice vehicles to the circle in the Arctic by the Ministry of Defense “referred to the direction of travel.”

Ed Arnold, an older research colleague at the Royal United Institute of Services, said the UK is under pressure to provide more difficult military capabilities to the high north of the North allies on the American position.

Arnold said: “They expect us to spread a military presence that has completed there, because with regard to things like intelligence, monitoring, reconnaissance, and the anti -submarine war, we are the only ones who can alleviate the United States to re -allocate some of its resources to India and the Pacific.”

Publishing more assets and employees to the north is greatly based on the work of previous conservative departments. The former Minister of Defense, the Conservative Ben Wallace Party, put a new strategy in the Arctic in 2022, which clarified the threat without adhering to a new investment.

Industry executive officials said that the consensus was wide that the Royal Navy would secure greater investments from the British army because of the review. They said that a message from NATO in Eastern Europe is that although it did not need land support, the capabilities of the British and Navy Royal Air Force were important.

The review is expected to confirm that the United Kingdom will continue to invest in the Global Combat Air program, an initiative between Britain, Italy and Japan, to create a sixth generation fighter plane.

While Sir Kerr Starmer pledged to increase defense expenditures from 2.3 percent of GDP to 2.5 percent of 2027, at a value of 6 billion pounds per year, the pledge is less than 2.65 percent by British military leaders, which means that spending dilemmas lies in the future.

Investing in traditional platforms, including ships, aircraft and wild vehicles, should be balanced with the development of new, inherent and inhabited air systems and other new technologies.

It is also scheduled to demand more work to strengthen student and reserve forces, and improve the ties of the Ministry of Defense with the appropriate old warriors and trainers in the event of a conflict, according to people familiar with this.

The ministers have developed plans for a “full association” approach, where some officials call for more focus on democratic values, national flexibility and defense in the curricula.

The review is also expected to study the structure of Internet personnel in the United Kingdom, who wander around the Gchaq Intelligence Agency, the National Defense Force, and other government units.

The idea is not to create a common matter such as “space force” in the United States but in restructuring and rationalization, so units do not try to steal each other and obtain a “common eating mechanism”, according to the people familiar with the plan.

Some defense figures are paid to issue a review early next month before the United Kingdom and the European Union in an attempt to secure a new defense agreement at a summit on May 19, and to better influence the NATO meeting on June 24.

The people said that other officials want to publish later in Yemen, to agree with the Treasury spending and a broader security strategy led by National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell.

The Ministry of Defense refused to comment on “speculation”, but it added it designed “to look very in the threats we face and the capabilities we need to face challenges and opportunities in the twenty -first century” and will be published “as soon as possible.”

Additional reports from Helen Warry