MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th March, 2023) The United Kingdom will spend 3 billion Pounds ($3.7 billion) of the 5 billion pounds in extra military funding reserved for the next two financial years on nuclear submarine maintenance and weapons research, the government said in the Integrated Review Refresh 2023, a major policy update published Monday.
The money will be invested across the defense nuclear enterprise, in nuclear submarine infrastructure at Barrow and Derby and in the Atomic Weapons Establishment research facility.
"This investment will help to modernise our manufacturing and maintenance capacity so that we can improve submarine availability and increase resilience, as well as supporting the delivery of AUKUS," the report said, referring to the UK's security pact with the United States and Australia.
The remaining 2 billion pounds will be used to replenish weapons stockpiles and bolster national munitions infrastructure. The national defense budget will be hiked to 2.2% of industrial output this year, above NATO's baseline commitment of 2%.
