Image: UK MoD © Crown copyright 2023
The UK and Welsh governments have signed a landmark £50 million Wales Defence Growth Deal, positioning the nation as a launchhead for uncrewed and autonomous defence systems amid Britain’s largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War.
The agreement, signed at Cardiff Castle by Defence Secretary John Healey MP, Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan, and Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens, will funnel investment into the design, testing, and manufacture of autonomous platforms across land, sea, and air — including surveillance drones and one-way strike systems.
Expanding Access, Opening Skies
Central to the deal is a significant expansion of access to Ministry of Defence test ranges across Wales, notably at MOD Aberporth. Working alongside the Civil Aviation Authority and its military counterpart, the agreement will also widen air corridors across central Wales to enable both military and commercial testing of uncrewed aerial systems — a move that could accelerate the development pipeline for a technology sector increasingly critical to modern warfare.
Levelling the Playing Field for Welsh SMEs
One of the deal’s more structurally significant provisions is its effort to ease defence contracting access for small and medium-sized businesses. Historically, SMEs have been required to work through large prime contractors to access classified defence work. Under the new framework, Welsh SMEs will be supported in obtaining the necessary security clearances and direct procurement access, removing a longstanding barrier that has limited the sector’s reach.
Wales’s aerospace and defence sector already directly employs more than 16,000 skilled workers, with nearly 4,000 jobs supported through MOD industry spending alone — part of over £1 billion annually spent with the Welsh defence industry.
Training the Next Generation
The deal also includes plans to establish a new Defence Technical Excellence College by September 2027, aimed at training the next generation of defence engineers to support Britain’s growing autonomous capabilities.
Kevin Craven, CEO of trade association ADS — which represents more than 1,800 businesses across the UK’s aerospace, defence, security and space sectors — welcomed the deal, noting Wales’s particular strengths in unmanned capabilities and dual-use technologies.
Broader Strategic Context
The Wales Defence Growth Deal forms part of the wider Defence Industrial Strategy, which is being delivered against the backdrop of the UK government’s commitment to raise defence spending to 2.6% of GDP from 2027 — the largest sustained increase since the end of the Cold War.
Source: UK Ministry of Defence Press Release
