What should Britain do if its defence budget doubled?
Short answerThe plan would first improve pay, housing, retention, readiness, and the numbers of existing platforms, then add carefully chosen capabilities and long-term research.
NotesThe plan begins with pay rises, service housing, infrastructure, retention incentives, and proper support for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary because equipment cannot create readiness without people. It then proposes expanding existing Type 26 and Type 31 production, ordering modified Type 31s, more patrol vessels, F-35s, airborne early-warning aircraft, helicopters, and transport aircraft. Only after restoring credible mass would the plan add capabilities such as more carriers or LHDs, while reserving funds for research that shapes the next thirty to forty-five years.