Wellington 🇮🇴

🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿✝️ Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.

[Wellington 🇮🇴 @HighToryHenno]

Fear God. Honour the King. 🇬🇧✝️

[Marcus Walker @WalkerMarcus]

A consequence of spite.

[Defence With A 'C' @defencewithac]

'Ukraine brain' is becoming a serious and pervasive disease. Helicopters have suffered heavy casualties since their inception. Their utility remains exceptional in spite of this.

[Alex Deane @ajcdeane]

Congratulations, Bridget Phillipson.

No doubt this is just “chattering” as you put it, but it’s what you wanted, so… bravo.

[British Army 🇬🇧 @BritishArmy]

Happy Canada Day to our Canadian colleagues 🇨🇦

#CanadaDay @CanadianArmy

[Conor Lynch @c_k_lynch]

Glorious

[Britsky @TBrit90]

Didn't resign with the rest of them and proudly supports this unfunded abomination of a defence plan.

[𝙼𝙰𝚂𝚂 𝙴𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 @MASSExpedition]

Your daughters are worth eight weeks, Dutch Man.

Unless you say enough is enough.

[Navy Lookout @NavyLookout]

DIP promises to "review future plans for OPV procurement", but no firm commitment to replace the (very busy) Batch I OPVs beyond 2028

[Chris Newton @drchrisnewton]

What’s the betting he’ll be in a TV studio in 5 years time telling us how govts need to do more on defence, hoping that we’d forgotten he agreed to this? 🤔

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

I’m delighted to announce Henry Bolton OBE (@_HenryBolton) as Restore Britain’s spokesman on national security - Henry is responsible for developing and maintaining the framework that ensures the party’s policies are effective in preserving, protecting, securing and defending the United Kingdom, its people, the Overseas Territories, and British interests at home and abroad.

That includes the defence of the United Kingdom’s sovereignty, territory, borders, economy, constitutional order, institutions, economic and social resilience, and freedom of action.

The first part of that will be released this morning, through our paper on ‘Restoring British Policing’.

Henry served as a regular Army soldier and reserve Army officer from 1979 to 2000, leaving as a company commander. In Bosnia, he commanded a NATO Strategic Human Intelligence Unit, directing intelligence operations and reporting to and advising the Commander of Allied Forces in Bosnia. He qualified as a French Army Commando, NATO Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol Instructor, Joint Forces Expedition Leader, instructor in Russian Tactical Doctrine, and Joint Military/Civilian Operations Planner.

He also led the UK Reserve Forces Team in the International Command Skills Competition two years running.

Internationally, Henry served as a United Nations District Administrator in Kosovo, Director of Field Operations for the international ceasefire observation mission in Macedonia, crisis management adviser to the Albanian Prime Minister, and led UK efforts to disrupt transnational organised crime in the Southern Balkans.

He was Senior Border Security and Management Adviser to the Secretary General and 57 participating States of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, spent 27 months leading joint UK/US civil-military stabilisation teams in Musa Qala, northern Helmand, served as a chief planner for European Common Security and Defence Policy in Brussels, Libya and Ukraine, and led the European Union’s Crisis Response Team in Ukraine.

Henry was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2013 for services to international security and stabilisation in Central Asia and Afghanistan.

We are determined to put together a team of spokespeople who actually know what they are talking about on their brief.

Not career politicians shuffled around like playing cards.

Henry is a genuine world-class expert on national security.

It's great to have him on the Restore Britain team.

[Mark W. @DurhamWASP]

“It is possible, though hard, to forge a UK made up of many ethnicities… But however well it turns out, it cannot be England. Perhaps my grandchildren will ask what England was. I shall tell them that it seemed like a good idea while it lasted & it lasted for about 1,000 years.”

[Britsky @TBrit90]

I hope these at least go to the fleet air arm to help them maintain their fleet.

[Gabriele Molinelli @Gabriel64869839]

The DiP is unfortunately largely trash. Instead of a 10 year plan it has become a vaguely worded summary of what has survived the cull over the years to 2030, and a promise that vastly greater amounts of money will be spent AFTER 2030. How credible said post-2030 amounts are is entirely debatable at best.

The list of the cuts and disappearances, in the meanwhile, grew further. These are the new additions:

- SHADOW R1 fleet
- WILDCAT AH1 fleet
- CHINOOK HC6A fleet (if the Intended Capability Sustainment Program Phase 2 is gone as well - unclear at present, the fleet is headed all the way down to 36 machines within a few years, being the 14 HC6, 8 HC5 and the incoming 14 ER)
- 40+ WATCHKEEPERs are being replaced by 24 CORVUS (make it make sense)
- The entire surface escort fleet being withdrawn early and ahead of replacement
- SKYNET 6 Narrowband communications satellite
- Downsized replacement amphibious ships ambitions
- Probably the 15 M270A2 still not under contract since there's no mention of them anywhere
- Ambitions for additional A400
- Recommended additional E-7 purchase
- The Deep Sea Data Gathering ship to replace HMS SCOTT and complement PROTEUS

The impact on plans for SHORAD, planned BOXER Batch 2 procurement, Land Mobility Program and others are literally impossible to quantify at present because the document is way too vague.

[Navy Lookout @NavyLookout]

As we have previously reported, HMS Richmond and HMS Iron Duke were actually withdrawn some time ago and have been stripped of equipment - the DIP finally admits they are to be scrapped.

No decommissioning ceremonies permitted.

The material state of HMS Portland continues to be a concern.

Photo: Ex-HMS Richmond in the basin at Devonport, June 2026

[Gabriele Molinelli @Gabriel64869839]

For the Royal Air Force:

- SHADOW R1 will be WITHDRAWN early, although unclear how early is "early"

- No mention whatsoever of additional A400s or E-7s, all DiP-aparecidos

- Typhoon gets another 1.1 billion for upgrades towards 2040. By 2030 it will slurp up 5.4 billion just for upgrades (most of it the new Mk2 radar and Phase 4 Enhancement on the way).

- By 2030, GCAP will eat up 8.6 billion

- 300 million by 2030 should lead to testing of a first Collaborative Combat Aircraft

- The "next batch" of F-35s, "including our first F-35As",
which will enter service in the early 2030. Are they still 27 in total (15B and 12A)? Who knows. Timeline? Unclear.

- 260 million in "upgrades" for P-8 POSEIDON. Much of it is for integrating STINGRAY torpedo.

- 240 million for PRESAGIUM for RAF Regiment C-UAS capability. It MIGHT include more Rapid Sentry turrets but UNCLEAR.

"Long Range Ground Based air defence missiles" are vaguely promised but only in the 2030 to 2035 horizon.

[Armchair Admiral 🇬🇧 @ArmchairAdml]

Huge mistake not to buy more of each. The P-8s are being worked like dogs too.

[Armchair Admiral 🇬🇧 @ArmchairAdml]

81 pages of disappointment, no doubt.

[Navy Lookout @NavyLookout]

The Army’s 34 AH1 Wildcat helicopters are being axed (unclear if they will be held in storage, transferred to the RN or sold abroad). Helicopters have struggled to survive over the battlefields of Ukraine. Fortunately, the RN’s Wildcats survive the axe.

Meanwhile, in March the govt committed more than £1Bn to build 23 New Medium Helicopters - more a case of making work for Yeovil than joined-up thinking?

[Miles @pe_nng]

Great news, a decade to realise our mistake and built some T83s

[RAW EGG NATIONALIST @Babygravy9]

British colonial policy was to defend Hong Kong with nuclear weapons if the Chinese ever tried to take it by force. We should have done that rather than hand it over to the communists in such an ignominious manner.