UK ‘increasingly vulnerable’ to threat of missile and drone attacks after decades of cuts
The UK is increasingly vulnerable to the threat of missiles and drones after decades of cost-saving cuts eroded its once world-class air defences, military sources and Cold War veterans have warned.
Defence chiefs are understood to be exploring options to regrow Britain’s ability to protect critical national infrastructure – like power stations, military bases and government buildings – from the kind of Russian cruise and ballistic missile strikes that are devastating Ukraine.
But any credible “integrated air and missile defence” plan will cost billions of pounds and would likely require a further increase in defence spending beyond a proposed rise to 2.5% of national income recently announced by the prime minister, according to defence sources.
“Can the UK defend its cities from the skies if there was a barrage of missiles? No,” a senior defence source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Do the public know what to do in the event of an air attack? No… Put simply, are we defended? No.”
As part of a series called Prepared For War? Sky News visited air defence sites that once played a key role in protecting Britain during the Cold War – and spoke to veterans who were part of the force that had been on alert to respond to any Soviet air threat.
Pressing the big red button
Flicking a line of switches to prime a simulated batch of missiles from inside a cabin at an old military-base-turned-museum in Norfolk, a former Royal Air Force technician watches a screen as a radar scans for enemy aircraft.
“It’s picked up a target,” says Robert Findlater, pointing at a dot on the monitor, which looks more like a retro computer game.
Robert Findlater, a former Royal Air Force technician who was on the UK’s Bloodhound unit
A beeping noise indicates the signal from the radar is becoming stronger as the hostile aircraft approaches.
Once in range, red letters on one of the screens that had read “hold fire” switch to the words “free to fire”, written in green.
Mr Findlater leans forward and presses a big red button.
Suddenly there is a roar as the simulated noise of a missile blasting off shakes the cabin.
The Bloodhound air defence missile, powered with a Rolls Royce engine, could reach 60 miles per hour in a tenth of a second before rocketing up to twice the speed of sound as it powered towards an enemy aircraft or missile – state-of-the-art technology in its day.
“We’ve been successful in our launch,” the RAF veteran says, with a smile.
The Bloodhound air defence missile could reach 60 miles per hour in a tenth of a second
It could then rocket up to twice the speed of sound as it powered towards an enemy aircraft or missile
He then peers back at the screen, watching a line of what looks like radio waves jumping up and down, until there is a spike to indicate the missile closing in on the target.
“It [the radar] is now looking for the missile, and there she is in the beam. Next thing you see – that’s the warhead.
“It’s gone off, and you killed it,” the veteran says, finishing the simulation.
Long retired, Mr Findlater joined the RAF in 1968.
He rose up through the ranks to become chief technician on a Bloodhound unit, charged with ensuring the missiles were ready and able at all times to fire at any threat.
Retired equipment at the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum in Norfolk
Stepping outside the cabin, from where the system was operated, to a patch of grass, the veteran showed Sky News around the actual weapon – a lethal-looking collection of rockets and warheads, painted white and lying horizontal now, rather than pointing towards the sky.
Asked what message it had been designed to send to NATO’s former Warsaw Pact foes, Mr Findlater said with a chuckle: “Don’t come knocking… It says we’re ready for you.”
The ground-based systems, which had been dotted around the UK’s coastlines, used to be part of a layered grid of Cold War air defences that also included fighter jets and other weapons.
But the entire arsenal of Bloodhound air defence missiles was taken out of service after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, while air bases and fast jet squadrons were reduced to save money as successive prime ministers took what has been described as a “peace dividend”.
There had been talk at the time of investing in US-made Patriot air defence systems – an even more capable piece of kit that remains a core part of the air defences of the United States and a number of other NATO allies.
“But I think the government just gave up and shut everything down because there was no threat any more,” Mr Findlater said.
Asked whether he thought the UK was well defended now, he said: “I don’t feel we’re defended, no, not at all.”
As for how that made him feel, he said: “Sad… Considering what we had in the 1970s and 1980s.”
Frozen in time
Also at the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum is an old Cold War operations room – frozen in time, with giant boards along one wall, charting the number of fighter jets once ready to scramble.
There are also rows of desks, fitted with radar screens and important-looking buttons.
John Baker, 69, once worked in this hub as an aircraft identification and recognition officer.
An old Cold War operations room at the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum
John Baker, 69, once worked as an aircraft identification and recognition officer
Asked if the UK’s air defences had been prepared for war back when he served, he said: “We practised. There were exercises for war.
“Every couple of months or so there would be a small exercise and once or twice a year there would be a major NATO exercise in which this – because this radar site was closest to Europe – would be the epicentre.”
While cautioning that he was no longer up-to-date on the military’s air defence capabilities, he sounded less certain about whether they could handle a major attack today.
Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts
“If hundreds and hundreds of drones and cruise missiles were to come in. I don’t think we could safely take out all of them,” Mr Baker said.
He added: “I’m glad I did my time back then – and not now.”
Air defences ‘woefully inadequate’
The UK does have highly capable air defence equipment – just no longer enough of it to be able to protect the vast array of critical infrastructure across the country and also to defend troops deployed on operations overseas.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Making the situation more grave is a growth in the quality and quantity of missiles and drones that hostile states such as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea have developed.
At present, the RAF has just nine frontline fast jet squadrons – including the quick reaction alert aircraft that are at the sharp end of defending against any air threat.
While modern jets – F-35 and Typhoon – are far more sophisticated than their predecessors, the UK had 30 frontline squadrons towards the end of the Cold War.
RAF F-35B Lightning II aircraft, seen on the deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth moored in Limassol, Cyprus, in 2021. Pic: Reuters
The Royal Navy’s six Type 45 destroyers are kitted with the country’s only ballistic missile defence systems.
But only three of these ships are “available for operations”, according to a navy spokesperson, including one that is deployed on operations in the Middle East.
On land, the military has around six Sky Sabre ground-based air defence systems – each one able to shoot down multiple missiles.
But at least two of these weapons – almost certainly more – are deployed overseas, and those in the UK only have a very limited range.
HMS Diamond is one of the Royal Navy’s six Type 45 Destroyers. Pic: Reuters
Read more from Sky News:
Is the UK preparing for war amid threats of conflict?
‘Hard to imagine how UK could be doing less to prepare’
Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, called the UK’s current array of air defences “woefully inadequate”.
Britain does benefit from its geography, with a lot of European NATO countries between its shores and Russia.
However, the air defences of many European nations have also been reduced to save money since the Soviet Union collapsed.
“We always hear this argument from the Ministry of Defence that gaps in our own capability are acceptable because we’re part of an alliance,” Mr Watling said.
“It’s a little bit like if you were going round to a ‘bring your own booze’ party and you said: ‘Well, there’s other people coming, so I’m not going to bring any alcohol’.
“If everyone adopts that approach, then there is simply nothing to drink. And when we look across NATO, there is an overall shortage [in air defences].”
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “The UK is well prepared for any event and defence of the UK would be taken alongside our NATO allies.
“As part of our commitment to invest an extra £75bn for defence over the next six years, we continue to review potential opportunities to develop our capabilities and modernise air defence across Europe in close discussion with allies and partners.”
A care worker who reported the alleged abuse of an elderly care home resident, which triggered a criminal investigation, is facing destitution and potential removal from Britain after speaking up.
“Meera”, whose name we have changed to protect her identity, said she witnessed an elderly male resident being punched several times in the back by a carer at the home where she worked.
Sky News is unable to name the care home for legal reasons because of the ongoing police investigation.
“I was [a] whistleblower there,” said Meera, who came to the UK from India last year to work at the home.
“Instead of addressing things, they fired me… I told them everything and they made me feel like I am criminal. I am not criminal, I am saving lives,” she added.
‘Meera’ spoke up about abuse she said she witnessed in the care home where she worked
Like thousands of foreign care workers, Meera’s employer sponsored her visa. Unless she can find another sponsor, she now faces the prospect of removal from the country.
“I am in trouble right now and no one is trying to help me,” she said.
Meera said she reported the alleged abuse to her bosses, but was called to a meeting with a manager and told to “change your statement, otherwise we will dismiss you”.
She refused. The following month, she was sacked.
The care home claimed she failed to perform to the required standard in the job.
She went to the police to report the alleged abuse and since then, a number of people from the care home have been arrested. They remain under investigation.
‘Migrants recruited because many are too afraid to speak out’
The home has capacity for over 60 residents. It is unclear if the care home residents or their relatives know about the police investigation or claim of physical abuse.
Since the arrests, the regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), carried out an investigation at the home triggered by the concerns – but the home retained its ‘good’ rating.
Meera has had no reassurance from the authorities that she will be allowed to remain in Britain.
In order to stay, she’ll need to find another care home to sponsor her which she believes will be impossible without references from her previous employer.
She warned families: “I just want to know people in care homes like these… your person, your father, your parents, is not safe.”
She claimed some care homes have preferred to recruit migrants because many are too afraid to speak out.
“You hire local staff, they know the legal rights,” she said. “They can complain, they can work anywhere… they can raise [their] voice,” she said.
Sky’s Becky Johnson spoke to ‘Meera’
Sky News has reported widespread exploitation of care visas and migrant care workers.
Read more:
More than 100 migrants face being in UK illegally
Immigration crackdown will fuel ‘exodus’ of nurses
New English language and UK citizenship requirements for migrants
Currently migrants make up around a third of the adult social care workforce, with the majority here on visas that are sponsored by their employers.
As part of measures announced in April in the government’s immigration white paper, the care visa route will be closed, meaning care homes will no longer be able to recruit abroad.
‘Whole system is based on power imbalance’
But the chief executive of the Work Rights Centre, a charity that helps migrants with employment issues, is warning that little will change for the tens of thousands of foreign care workers already here.
“The whole system is based on power imbalance and the government announcement doesn’t change that,” Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol told Sky News.
She linked the conditions for workers to poor care for residents.
Work Rights Centre CEO Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol
“I think the power that employers have over migrant workers’ visas really makes a terrible contribution to the quality of care,” she said.
Imran agrees. He came to the UK from Bangladesh, sponsored by a care company unrelated to the one Meera worked for. He says he frequently had to work 14-hour shifts with no break because there weren’t enough staff. He too believes vulnerable people are being put at risk by the working conditions of their carers.
Migrant workers ‘threatened’ over visas
“For four clients, there is [a] minimum requirement for two or three staff. I was doing [it] alone,” he said, in broken English.
“When I try to speak, they just directly threaten me about my visa,” he said.
“I knew two or three of my colleagues, they are facing the same issue like me. But they’re still afraid to speak up because of the visa.”
A government spokesperson called what happened to Imran and Meera “shocking”.
“No one should go to work in fear of their employer, and all employees have a right to speak up if they witness poor practice and care.”
James Bullion, from the CQC, told Sky News it acts on intelligence passed to it to ensure people stay safe in care settings.
Additional research by Leah Adin
Donald Trump may be denied the honour of addressing parliament on his state visit to the UK later this year, with no formal request yet submitted for him to be given that privilege.
It comes after President Macron’s successful state visit this week, in which he was invited to speak in front of both Houses of Parliament.
Sky News has been told the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, hasn’t so far received a request to invite the US president to speak in parliament when he is expected to visit in September.
It was confirmed to MPs who have raised concerns about the US president being allowed to address both houses.
Kate Osborne, Labour MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East, wrote to the speaker in April asking him to stop Mr Trump from addressing parliament, and tabled an early-day motion outlining her concerns.
“I was happy to see Macron here but feel very differently about Trump,” she said.
“Trump has made some very uncomfortable and worrying comments around the UK government, democracy, the Middle East, particularly around equalities and, of course, Ukraine.
“So, I think there are many reasons why, when we’re looking at a state visit, we should be looking at why they’re being afforded that privilege. Because, of course, it is a privilege for somebody to come and address both of the houses.”
But the timing of the visit may mean that any diplomatic sensitivities, or perceptions of a snub, could be avoided.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron addressed parliament during his state visit this month
Lord Ricketts, a former UK ambassador to France, pointed out that parliament isn’t sitting for much of September, and that could help resolve the issue.
In 2017, he wrote a public letter questioning the decision to give Donald Trump his first state visit, saying it put Queen Elizabeth II in a “very difficult position”.
Parliament rises from 16 September until 13 October due to party conferences.
The dates for the state visit haven’t yet been confirmed by Buckingham Palace or the government.
However, they have not denied that it will take place in September, after Mr Trump appeared to confirm they were planning to hold the state visit that month. The palace confirmed this week that the formal planning for his arrival had begun.
With the King likely to still be in Scotland in early September for events such as the Braemar Gathering, and the anniversary of his accession and the death of Queen Elizabeth on the 8th September, it may be expected that the visit would take place sometime from mid to the end of September, also taking into consideration the dates of the Labour Party conference starting on the 28th September and possibly the Lib Dem’s conference from the 20th-23rd.
Mr Trump has said he believes the trip to the UK will take place in September. Pic: Reuters
When asked about parliamentary recess potentially solving the issue, Ms Osborne said: “It may be a way of dealing with it in a very diplomatic way… I don’t know how much control we have over Trump’s diary.
“But if we can manoeuvre it in a way that means that the House isn’t sitting, then that seems like a good solution, maybe not perfect, because I’d actually like him to know that he’s not welcome.”
A message from the speaker’s office, seen by Sky News, says: “Formal addresses to both Houses of Parliament are not automatically included in the itinerary of such a state visit.
“Whether a foreign head of state addresses parliament, during a state visit or otherwise, is part of the planning decisions.”
Mr Trump made his first state visit to the UK in June 2019 during his first presidency. File pic: Reuters
It’s understood that if the government agrees to a joint address to parliament, the Lord Chamberlain’s office writes to the two speakers, on behalf of the King, to ask them to host this.
It will be Mr Trump’s second state visit.
During his first, in 2019, he didn’t address parliament, despite the fact that his predecessor, Barack Obama, was asked to do so.
It was unclear if this was due to the fact John Bercow, the speaker at the time, made it clear he wasn’t welcome to do so.
However, it didn’t appear to dampen Mr Trump’s excitement about his time with the Royal Family.
Read more from Sky News:
Two women killed as BMW crashes into care home
Officers who confronted Southport killer win bravery award
Speaking earlier this year, he described his state visit as “a fest” adding “it’s an honour… I’m a friend of Charles, I have great respect for King Charles and the family, William; we have really just a great respect for the family. And I think they’re setting a date for September.”
It is expected that, like Mr Macron, the pageantry for his trip this time will revolve around Windsor, with refurbishment taking place at Buckingham Palace.
Liverpool have retired the number 20 shirt in honour of Diogo Jota – the first time it has made such a gesture.
The club said it was a “unique tribute to a uniquely wonderful person” and the decision was made in consultation with his wife and family.
The number 20 will be retired at all levels, including the men’s and women’s first teams and academy squads.
A statement said: “It was the number he wore with pride and distinction, leading us to countless victories in the process – and Diogo Jota will forever be Liverpool Football Club’s number 20.”
The club called it a “recognition of not only the immeasurable contribution our lad from Portugal made to the Reds’ on-pitch successes over the last five years, but also the profound personal impact he had on his teammates, colleagues and supporters and the everlasting connections he built with them”.
Jota’s wife joined Liverpool players to view tributes at Anfield on Friday. Pic: Liverpool FC
Pic: Liverpool FC
Newly-married Jota died alongside his brother when his Lamborghini crashed in northern Spain on 3 July.
Police said this week that all the evidence so far suggests Jota was the one driving the vehicle.
Liverpool teammates joined members of Jota’s family, including his wife Rute, at a huge memorial site outside Anfield on Friday.
Read more from Sky News:
Mystery in space is most likely ‘oldest comet ever seen’
Trump may be denied privilege of addressing parliament
A fan looks at messages on a memorial wall near Anfield. Pic: Reuters
Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson were among players at the funeral. Pic: Reuters
The star’s funeral took place last weekend, with Liverpool colleagues and members of the Portuguese national team in attendance.
Reds captain Virgil van Dijk carried a shirt bearing the number 20 made from flowers.
Liverpool players returned to the club’s training ground for the start of pre-season on Tuesday.
Their first game since Jota’s death will be on Sunday when they play a friendly away against Preston North End.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike