UK launches Deep Precision Strike missile programme with 12 NATO partners.
£37 billion defence initiative strengthens NATO's long-range strike capabilities by 2030s.
NATO cites growing Russian threat as allies accelerate defence investment plans.
Britain has announced a new long-range precision missile programme backed by twelve countries, with combined spending of over £37 billion planned across the next decade, in one of the most significant European defence initiatives unveiled at the NATO summit in Ankara this week.
The Deep Precision Strike project, as reported by the BBC, announced by Downing Street on Wednesday, is designed to hit targets up to nearly 200 miles away with pinpoint accuracy, with a potential extended range of up to 1,250 miles. The weapon is billed as among NATO's most advanced, though it is not expected to be operational until the 2030s. Prime Minister Keir Starmer convened around a dozen allied leaders on the sidelines of the summit to discuss the programme, describing the UK-led initiative as a step towards keeping NATO safe for years to come and building a stronger, more European alliance.
The announcement comes as Starmer faces pressure from US President Donald Trump over defence spending. Nearly all NATO members agreed last year to spend five per cent of GDP on defence and security by 2035, a target Starmer has yet to set out a concrete plan for meeting. The UK government has separately committed £300 billion through its Defence Investment Plan by 2030.
Starmer used the summit to highlight what the government described as a sharply deteriorating security environment, noting that NATO had scrambled jets to intercept Russian aircraft approaching allied airspace more than 700 times, while Russian military activity around British waters had risen by thirty per cent. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the missile programme would allow the alliance to strike high-value military targets and logistics infrastructure, deterring any aggressor and sending a clear message to President Vladimir Putin that NATO was ready to defend its members.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the summit on Tuesday, urging allies to accelerate deliveries of air defence systems as Russian attacks intensify. Downing Street noted that Ukraine's own long-range strikes on Russian logistics hubs had significantly degraded Moscow's ability to sustain its offensives, pointing to fuel shortages and power cuts caused by Ukrainian drone and missile attacks on oil refineries and military targets inside Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would watch proceedings in Ankara closely, adding that no new weapons supplied to Kyiv would prevent Russia from pressing ahead with its military objectives. He said settlement through political and diplomatic means remained Russia's preference, but characterised the statements coming out of the summit as confrontational rather than constructive.
