Image source, PA Media

The new defence investment plan will give the UK's armed forces the "cutting-edge capabilities" they need to deter evolving threats and keep the British people safe, Keir Starmer has said.

The prime minister says the "game-changing investment" would "strengthen our armed forces on land, at sea and in the air, ensuring our servicemen and women" have the equipment they need to keep Britain safe.

Starmer also says the plan will help drive growth across the UK by "backing British innovation, British industry and British jobs and delivering opportunity to every corner of the country".

He adds that the plan will give the UK's industrial base the "certainty and support it needs to develop and scale the technologies that will keep our country safe and secure long into the future".

The defence investment plan expected later today follows the wide-ranging strategic defence review published in June last year.

That review, carried out by former Labour Defence Sectary Lord Robertson, outlined a shift towards "warfighting readiness" to deter threats and pledged billions in extra spending for extra ammunition, next-generation fast jets, drones, and new attack submarines.

But it warned that the UK's armed forces were "not currently equipped" to fight opponents like Russia or China, saying the Ministry of Defence must embrace new technologies such as artificial intelligence, robots and lasers,

The report warned the UK is already experiencing daily attacks on its critical national infrastructure, testing the economy's vulnerabilities "and challenging its social cohesion".

Still unclear how £28bn gap in defence spending will be filledpublished at 06:31 BST

06:31 BST

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

This, says the Ministry of Defence, will be the largest ever drone investment in UK armed forces – more than £5bn invested over the next four years.

Not before time, say military commentators who note how drones have recently transformed the way war has been fought in Ukraine and the Strait of Hormuz. The transformation will apply to all three services.

The Royal Navy will receive a raft of surveillance, reconnaissance and attack drones, in place of the new Type 83 destroyers it was expecting to get.

The Army is to get uncrewed ground vehicles, similar to the ones deployed with such effect on the frontline in Ukraine.

And the RAF will get autonomous fighter jets that will fly alongside planes with a pilot still in the cockpit. This is the face of modern, 21st Century warfare.

But what’s missing from the plans published so far is how the government plans to plug the yawning £28bn gap in defence spending, something that prompted the previous Defence Secretary John Healey to resign.

Image source, Getty Images

A long-delayed military spending plan will be published today, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying it will keep Britain "safe and secure long into the future".

The Ministry of Defence says the defence investment plan (DIP) includes £5bn worth of investment to increase the armed forces' use of drones and autonomous weapons.

Earlier this month, the Treasury and No 10 agreed a £13.5bn funding increase, well short of the £28bn the MoD wanted - though new Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis has pushed for more in recent weeks.

The row has seen two defence ministers - John Healey and Al Carns - resign over what they said was an inadequate funding increase in the original version of the plan.

The disagreements over funding are also thought to be behind repeated delays to the document's publication, which was originally due last autumn.

The Conservatives say it is "too little, too late", while the Liberal Democrats say the defence investment plan has "dangerously short-changed our armed forces".

While the government has provided some details, we still don't have the full plan yet - it's due to be published later today.

We'll have updates and analysis throughout.