Tories plan £10bn ‘British Iron Dome’ — how would it work?

T he Conservatives have announced plans to build a £10bn “iron dome” around Britain to protect military bases and critical infrastructure from missile or drone attacks. Dubbed the “Britannia shield”, the air defence system would bring together advanced radar, command systems and state-of-the-art weaponry to counter a spectrum of aerial threats. Most commented 1 Kemi Badenoch puts cutting ‘immoral’ inheritance tax at core of speech Politics 479 comments 2 Spain’s embattled PM Pedro Sánchez calls snap election Europe 305 comments 3 Brazil election results: Flavio Bolsonaro sets up bitter contest with Lula Latin America 155 comments 4 It’s about time high earners had a tax break Tax 90 comments 5 TalkTalk deal a ‘stitch-up’ of broadband market, says Virgin Media Companies & Markets 99 comments A combination of low-cost interceptor drones, laser weapons, electronic warfare jammers and short-to-long range missile systems will form the “multi-layered” protective bubble under the plans. Top stories 1 Brazil election results: Flavio Bolsonaro sets up bitter contest with Lula Latin America 2 Andrew takes Thames Valley police to court over Jeffrey Epstein investigation Royal family 3 The Times LUXX cartoon: October 5, 2026 LUXX 4 The Devon boys making posh ready meals LUXX 5 14 luxury home fragrances for winter LUXX In a speech at the Tory party conference on Tuesday, James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, will pledge to invest £10bn in the system, funded through a “fully costed” plan to spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence by 2030. James Cartlidge at the Tory party conference on Monday Oli SCARFF/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said that she would hit the spending target by reforming welfare and reprioritising existing expenditure if her party won the next general election. Advertisement The Tories warned that Britain was “dangerously exposed” to the rapidly evolving technology used by Russia and Iran. A report published by the defence select committee last year said the country has “next to nothing” compared with European allies that were investing heavily in integrated air defence to combat growing threats to Nato territory. Top stories 1 Six thrilling Costa Rica trips with Times Holidays Promoted content At present, scrambling RAF fighter jets to shoot down drones or deploying Royal Navy destroyers armed with interceptor missiles are Britain’s primary means of defending its airspace. However, fighters are expensive to operate and the navy only has six such warships in its fleet, which are often tied up on operations or undergoing maintenance. Kremlin drone incursions across European borders have significantly increased in recent years and western intelligence agencies have warned that Russia could attack a Nato country by the end of the decade. War and peace newsletter Tom Newton-Dunn’s concise guide to global conflict – with reasons for optimism. Sign up with one click You’ve successfully signed up to the War and peace newsletter Explore our newsletters An error occurred. Please use the link below. War and peace newsletter Explore our newsletters Russia routinely bombards Ukraine with new advanced jet-powered drones and missiles that are difficult to intercept. It is also accused of being behind a drone attack on Leipzig airport in Germany in August, as well as observing sensitive military sites in the UK with drones launched from shadow fleet vessels. Other aerial threats to Britain come from Tehran. In March, Iranian proxies successfully struck an RAF base in Cyprus with a drone containing Russian technology . Iran also fired two long-range ballistic missiles at the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, one of which was intercepted by a missile fired from a US warship, while the other fell from the sky about 400 miles from its target. Advertisement Iranian missiles large enough to destroy a building could theoretically reach Britain but would probably be shot down before reaching it, senior military sources told The Times. If such missiles were fired towards Britain, they would be “very unlikely” to hit London, one source said, adding: “It would have to fly a long way over multiple air defence networks and be very precise.” The Ministry of Defence claimed in June that its new defence investment plan (Dip) makes “air and missile defence a priority”, by dedicating £790m over the next four years to enhance protection of the UK homeland and overseas bases. The money is being spent on radars, sensors and counterdrone interceptor systems, alongside investment into directed energy weapons such as DragonFire — a new laser weapon to be deployed on destroyers. The DragonFire laser weapon Reuters However, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen and General Sir Richard Barrons, who co-authored the strategic defence review, said that such a small investment merely buys better warning that an attack is coming, but no means to stop it. They argued that much more money is needed to enhance the UK armed forces’ ability to shoot down incoming threats. Advertisement Barrons said that £80bn over the next ten years would provide “entry level” air defence for Britain. About £120bn would be needed to create our own version of Israel’s Iron Dome, he added. Pointing to Iran’s attempt to strike Diego Garcia, using an out-of-date Russian missile system, Robertson said: “We are now within range in a way that we weren’t before.” This echoed a similar warning from Alexander Stubb, the president of Finland, who told The Times in April : “In modern warfare, it’s as easy for Moscow to hit London as it is to hit Helsinki … when it comes to ballistic missiles or to drones.” The £10bn Britannia shield proposed by the Tories, which would be invested over ten years, also appears to fall well short of what would be needed to protect Britain properly. The party said that the investment builds on its previous defence commitments, including pledges to create a £50bn sovereign defence fund, grow the size of the British Army and introduce a tax-free reserve service. Advertisement It pledged to deliver a “minimal deployable” air shield within its first term in office. The remaining investment would be focused on expanding and strengthening it over time. The Britannia shield would work in three stages. Incoming drones or missiles will first be detected with advanced radar systems. Improved command and control systems, integrated across the armed forces, would then decide the most effective response. Finally, new interceptor missiles or counter-drone capabilities would be deployed to take out the threat. Under the plans longer-range targets would be destroyed by Aster missiles, which can be launched from warships or land-based mobile systems. The Tories said they would upgrade the system to counter medium-range ballistic missiles up to distances of about 1,500km. Sky Sabre, an air defence system with a radar capable of sensing threats 120km away, would provide an additional layer of defence closer to home. It launches common anti-air modular missiles (Camms) that can take out jets, drones or missiles about 45km away. The last line of defence against drones that manage to penetrate British airspace would come from a combination of new military kit. This includes Rapid Sentry, a ground-based turret that launches cheap Martlet missiles with ranges of about 8km. The missiles have proved highly effective in recent battles. Specialist RAF Regiment troops deployed in Iraq took out more than 100 Iranian drones that threatened allied airspace. Advertisement DragonFire lasers, which can destroy small unmanned aircraft travelling at up to 650km/h with a high-powered beam, as well as kamikaze interceptor drones and radio frequency weapons that “fry drone swarms” in the sky, would also be last resort options. A mortar casing showing damage done by DragonFire PA Philip Lester, a retired RAF air vice-marshal and the former senior directing staff at Royal College of Defence Studies, said that Britain is a significantly larger country than Israel, making it very difficult to defend every inch of UK airspace and effectively have its own Iron Dome. Safeguarding specific sites or warships is more “controllable and manageable”, he said, because the “footprint you are protecting is relatively small”. He added: “There are key military sites and critical infrastructure that we might want to prioritise for protection in order to ensure national resilience and the preservation of national capability.” The government said in July that it was already prepared to defend Britain after Iran threatened to attack UK bases used by the US. The MoD said that preparations included “operating a layered approach to air and missile defence, provided by Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force assets equipped with a range of advanced capabilities, working closely with our Nato allies”.