The UK’s involvement in European air defence and long-range missile development is a sign of the “new determination to work more closely” with continental allies, Defence Secretary John Healey has said.
Thousands of UK troops will be put on stand-by to deploy to Estonia’s border with Russia under a new agreement Britain has signed with the Baltic nation in another sign of the commitment to European defence, Mr Healey said at a meeting of Nato counterparts.
The Cabinet minister’s message came as the UK pushes for a closer relationship with the European Union, particularly on security matters.
It could also be a sign of European efforts to do more on the defence of the continent with an eye on November’s US election, which could see Donald Trump – who has been critical of Nato – return to the White House.
Arriving at Nato headquarters in Brussels, Mr Healey said: “Today, we will make the commitment to reinforce Nato’s eastern flank with a new plan alongside Estonia for our forces there.
“And we will make a commitment, a UK commitment, to bolstering the future of Europe’s defences, leading a new initiative to net together the European air defence systems and to work together with other European allies to develop long-range missiles.
“This is part of the UK’s new determination to work more closely with other European allies on security for the future, and Europe’s security is guaranteed by this Nato alliance.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was also attending the Nato defence ministers’ meeting in Brussels to outline his “victory plan” for the war against Russia.
Mr Healey said: “We, as Ukraine’s supporters, must do everything we can to step up our support for Ukraine in the weeks and months ahead, to put more pressure on Russia, to ensure that Ukraine can prevail, because the defence of Europe starts in Ukraine.
“They’re fighting for the same values and same beliefs and same freedoms that we prize and we owe them that duty to stand with them for as long as it takes.”
Under the plans announced by the Ministry of Defence, soldiers in the Army’s 4th Brigade will be held at “high readiness” in order to defend Nato’s eastern flank with Russia, under a new co-operation agreement Mr Healey will sign with his Estonian counterpart.
The Defence Secretary will also agree plans to lead the new Diamond (Delivering Integrated Air and Missile Operational Networked Defences) initiative, aimed at integrating Nato member states’ missiles defences, while also developing new long-range weapons.
Some 1,000 British troops are already stationed in Estonia. If deployed, 4th Brigade troops – who are specialists in operating in Estonia’s Baltic terrain – could be sent there along with helicopters and rocket launchers.
The 4th Brigade, based at Bourlon Barracks in North Yorkshire, would be deployed within 10 days if called up to travel to Estonia under the plans.
The Army’s most advance tank, the Challenger 3, as well as the Boxer armoured vehicle, could also be sent to Estonia in future.
Army brigades differ in size, but as many as 5,000 troops could be placed on stand-by under the pact, which will begin in July 2025.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here