The UK defense budget deficit was estimated at $37.6 billion.

The UK's defense budget deficit will amount to £28 billion ($37.6 billion) over the next four years. This was reported by The Times on January 8, 2026.

According to the publication, the country's chief of the defense staff, Richard Knighton, presented the calculations to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, causing him dissatisfaction. He believed that all the costs included in the strategic review of national defense issues had been taken into account. The main reasons for the shortage are inflation, rising salaries for military personnel, and the cost of maintaining nuclear deterrents.

In this regard, Starmer ordered to re-analyze the defense spending plan in order to prescribe in detail a scheme for fulfilling all the obligations specified in the strategic review. The publication of the document, scheduled for December 2025, may now be postponed to March 2026, according to sources.

Nuclear restraint: Britain wants to abandon uranium from Russia by 2028

London also plans to oust Moscow from the global nuclear fuel market.

Earlier, on December 28, 2025, it was reported that the United Kingdom and Germany signed a contract for the supply of modern artillery equipment worth about $ 70 million. As part of the agreement, the UK will receive RCH 155 wheeled self-propelled howitzers capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 70 km.

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