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Britain unveils its new Ukraine-modeled armed forces
Politico ^ | June 29, 2026 | Mason Boycott-Owen

Posted on 06/29/2026 9:57:44 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican

Britain is announcing one of the biggest shake-ups of its armed forces in decades, and it’s using the experience of the war in Ukraine as a model.

The Defence Investment Plan, set to be published on Tuesday by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in one of his last acts before stepping down, shows the U.K. is copying Ukraine’s successful playbook to focus on “cheap systems destroying high-value targets and innovation cycles measured in weeks, not years,” the Ministry of Defence said on Monday.

The move indicates how the government intends to meet the goals of last year’s Strategic Defence Review, which warned that "state conflict has returned to Europe," after a funding crunch that prompted former Defence Secretary John Healey unexpectedly quit earlier this month.

For decades, much of the U.K.’s military strength has rested on sea power, with large, expensive warships like aircraft carriers and submarines able to launch nuclear missiles forming a central part of what Britain can bring to bear in peace and war.

But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended the old model for European defense. It exposed the vulnerability of expensive systems, underlined the need for large supplies of cheap drones and munitions, and accelerated the shift toward autonomous systems, AI-enabled targeting and quick battlefield innovation.

(Excerpt) Read more at politico.eu ...


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 06/29/2026 9:57:44 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

I think the main thing Britain could learn from Ukraine is its press gang technology.

Millions of Ukrainians fled the country rather than stay and fight. But for those who are still trapped there, government vans regularly grab screaming citizens where they await death and dismemberment in trenches.

Britain is doing everything it can to provoke a real war with Russia, spending billions on slaying as many Russians as possible. But Britains would have a similar level of enthusiasm for enlisting as Ukrainians.

So bring on the vans for Britain. The future is coming quickly


2 posted on 06/29/2026 10:20:45 PM PDT by Mount Athos
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To: Mount Athos

You typing in a loony bin?


3 posted on 06/29/2026 10:44:41 PM PDT by lasereye ( )
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To: Mount Athos
…spending billions on slaying as many Russians as possible

I’m good with that. Either the Russians leave Ukraine, or they die. The Ukrainians are seeing to that.
4 posted on 06/30/2026 2:27:36 AM PDT by Apparatchik (Русские свиньи, идите домой)
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To: MinorityRepublican

The UK should spend billions on salvaging its own immigrant infested country or it will be another 3rd world shxthole...it’s damn close now.


5 posted on 06/30/2026 3:55:22 AM PDT by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it!)
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To: lasereye

Moscow suburb.


6 posted on 06/30/2026 4:43:52 AM PDT by TheThirdRuffian (Orange is the new brown)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Does this mean the U.S. has to pay for their military too?


7 posted on 06/30/2026 5:38:49 AM PDT by TonyM (Score Event)
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To: MinorityRepublican

the way things are going, sooner or later the UK military will be used to round up white Brits posting mean things on the internet about the 1000s of 3rd-world parasites and savages being imported...


8 posted on 06/30/2026 5:40:08 AM PDT by wny
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To: MinorityRepublican

Nothing will help England at this point. Their “ Army” is a joke, their total active roles show an embarrassing 144,000 total, of which maybe, just maybe 10 percent are frontline combat arms. They would last maybe, just maybe two weeks against Russia’s 1.4 million active ( 2 million reserves)....

https://www.globalmilitary.net/countries/gbr/

https://militarycompare.com/russia-military-strength/

It is best England stays on their island and keeps their mouths shut.


9 posted on 06/30/2026 5:50:49 AM PDT by delta7
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To: MinorityRepublican

Oh, boy...

Per AI...

“UK military pensions are a key, structural component of the nation’s financial commitments to the alliance. Because NATO calculates defense expenditures differently than individual nations, it requires member states to include the retirement pay of retired military personnel when determining whether they meet the alliance’s spending targets.”

If accurate...

🌋🌋🌋🌋


10 posted on 06/30/2026 6:00:22 AM PDT by mewzilla (Swing away, Mr. President, swing away! 🇺🇸 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿)
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To: MinorityRepublican

What army?


11 posted on 06/30/2026 7:28:57 AM PDT by DownInFlames (p)
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To: DownInFlames

What army?
—————-
That could be said of all the EU member states, with the exception of Poland.


12 posted on 06/30/2026 8:50:25 AM PDT by delta7
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To: delta7

Kyiv — Several retired U.S. generals and the former director of a U.S. intelligence agency told CBS News they believe Ukraine now has the upper hand in the war with Russia.

They gave that assessment to CBS News as Ukraine’s top general Oleksandr Syrski said this week that his army has retaken 600 square kilometers — about 232 square miles — from Russia so far this year. Syrski did not say where the gains occurred but said the fighting was heaviest in the country’s southeast Oleksandrivka and Huliaipole areas.

“I would assess operationally Ukraine is winning in the context they are defeating enemy operational objectives, creating conditions for follow-on operations and preserving freedom of action,” retired Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said in an email this week.

Two generals agreed with Ashley’s characterization, stressing the view that on the front lines, Ukraine was outmaneuvering Russia.

Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery at Russian positions in the Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, May 31, 2026.
Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery at Russian positions in the Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, May 31, 2026.
Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images
Military experts say the key factor driving Ukraine’s recent successes is evolutions in its mid-range drone strike capabilities. Since 2023, Ukraine has developed an effective arsenal of short-range First Person View (FPV) drones that now cause more than 90% of Russian casualties, according to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And beginning in 2024, Ukraine has also effectively deployed long-range drones and cruise missiles that have targeted, most recently, military bases in St. Petersburg, more than 600 miles from Ukraine’s borders.

Until recently, finding drones to hit targets reliably between 30-60 miles remained elusive. A front-line R&D unit of Ukraine’s elite Khartiia Brigade told CBS News in March that expanding their drones’ ranges to surveil and hit targets beyond 30 miles was their “top priority.”

Rob Lee, a Ukraine-based military analyst and former U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer, said Ukrainian units have now largely solved this problem.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-winning-war-russia-retired-us-generals/


13 posted on 06/30/2026 12:11:04 PM PDT by TexasGator (1-1i11'./1)
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To: Mount Athos
So bring on the vans for Britain. The future is coming quickly

Lol...frankly I'd like to see that happen, press gangs in Britain would be better than rape gangs.

14 posted on 06/30/2026 12:46:57 PM PDT by mac_truck (aide toi et dieu t'aidera)
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To: delta7

Our side being weak against Russia seems to please you, improvements seem to disappoint you, do you want no opposition to Russia?


15 posted on 06/30/2026 1:40:05 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: ansel12

Free trade and Commerce is lasting Peace.


16 posted on 06/30/2026 3:01:16 PM PDT by delta7
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To: delta7

That non-response sounds like you are saying yes, you want no one capable of interfering with Russian power.


17 posted on 06/30/2026 3:22:50 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: delta7

“Free trade and Commerce is lasting Peace.”

There can be no free trade with a dictator like Putin.


18 posted on 06/30/2026 3:47:02 PM PDT by TexasGator (1-1i11'./1)
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