U.K. to Build Up to 12 Submarines as Part of Shift to ‘War-Fighting Readiness’

Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain on Monday promised to bring his country to “war-fighting readiness” as he announced plans to build up to 12 new attack submarines and invest billions of pounds in nuclear and other weaponry as part of new military strategy for a more dangerous world.

“If you want to deter conflict, then the best way to do that is to prepare for conflict,” Mr. Starmer said in a BBC interview on Monday morning, ahead of the release of the government’s strategic defense review that will outline plans to ramp up production of drones and increase stockpiles of munitions and equipment.

Britain’s ambitious rearmament plan comes against the gathering clouds of Russian military aggression in Ukraine, American disengagement from Europe and rising global tensions. Mr. Starmer presented his plans hours after one of the most intense aerial bombardments of the three-year war, with Ukrainian drones striking air bases deep in Russian territory.

The review, led by George Robertson, a former secretary general of NATO, was set up last year soon after Mr. Starmer won a general election. But its task was given fresh urgency amid growing evidence of President Trump’s weakened commitment to European security and his ambivalent and at times ingratiating attitude toward President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

The review is scheduled for release on Monday afternoon but among the recommendations made public in advance by the government were the procurement of up to 7,000 British-built long-range weapons and the creation of a new cybercommand, alongside an investment of a billion pounds, equivalent to $1.35 billion, in digital capability.

Money will be invested in protecting critical British underwater infrastructure as well as in drones which have proved highly effective in the war in Ukraine.