On June 2, 2025, the United Kingdom released its updated Strategic Defence Review (SDR): a forward-looking strategy that outlines the country’s new whole-of-society approach to national security. Under the new SDR, the UK will provide up to £1bn in new funding for homeland air and missile defenses and airpower systems, build 7,000 new long-range strike weapons, and acquire F-35A fighter jets. The F-35A is capable of carrying B-61 nuclear bombs, which could portend a return of an air leg to the country's nuclear deterrence posture.
How have the UK’s defense priorities changed in the new SDR? What will the U.S.-UK special relationship and defense cooperation look like in this environment? How does the UK's acquisition of an air-based nuclear delivery platform enhance the two countries’ deterrent? How will NATO allies' commitment to invest 5% of their GDPs in core defense requirements at the recent NATO summit in The Hague further shape this relationship and transatlantic security? To consider these questions, please join the CSIS Defense and Security Department for a conversation on developments in U.S.-UK strategic cooperation, featuring Dr. Heather Williams, director of the CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues, Dr. Tom Karako, director of the CSIS Missile Defense Project, and Kari A. Bingen, director of the CSIS Aerospace Security Project.
This event is made possible by general support to CSIS.
