The UK said it would create a defense innovation unit to help promote and acquire best-in-class military technology, as the British government prepares to ramp up defense spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027. The unit will “harness the ingenuity of the UK’s leading tech and manufacturing sectors” to rapidly scale up innovative prototypes, the Treasury said in an e-mailed statement on Friday, without detailing the composition of the body. The unit “will help equip Britain’s armed forces with cutting-edge tech and grow high-tech British businesses in the defence tech ecosystem,” the statement said. The announcement comes after Britain set out plans to increase defense spending from 2.3% of economic output currently to 2.5% by 2027, a response to pressure from US President Donald Trump and amid a growing realization that European nations need to do more to fund their own security. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he wants defense spending to rise to 3% of GDP over the next decade. The effort will involve private investment companies and venture-capital firms, the government said. It will also promote economic growth and create jobs, Defense Secretary John Healey said, adding that he met with leaders from 15 defense firms alongside Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds on Friday.

Full report : United Kingdom sets up a new defense innovation unit to promote and acquire next generation military technology.