The Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force (RAF) will all learn their future funding fate later this month.
Boris Johnson will announce the outcome of the Government’s integrated review of foreign, defence, security and development policy on March 16, Downing Street has said today.
The review is regarded as being the biggest assessment of the country’s foreign policy since the end of the Cold War. It was due to be completed last year, but was delayed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
It will shape UK military policy - and dictate the size and shape of the Armed Forces - in the decades ahead.
Today, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the review outcome announcement would be followed by the publication of a detailed paper on March 22 setting out the Ministry of Defence’s plans to modernise the armed forces.
The spokesman said Mr Johnson had asked the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nick Carter, to continue in his role until the end of November to oversee the implementation of the process.
“General Nick has been central to setting our vision for our future armed forces,” the spokesman said.
There have been fears that Plymouth-based amphibious assault ships HMS Albion and her sister ship Bulwark will not be replaced when they are taken out of service in 2033 and 2034 respectively.
Their replacements - if there are to be any - will need to be ordered during the timescale of this review.
Concerns were repeatedly raised about the role Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings played in the review.
