UK ‘increasingly vulnerable’ to threat of missile and drone attacks after decades of cuts

The UK is increasingly vulnerable to the threat of missiles and drones after decades of cost-saving cuts eroded its once world-class air defences, military sources and Cold War veterans have warned. Defence chiefs are understood to be exploring options to regrow Britain’s ability to protect critical national infrastructure – like power stations, military bases and government buildings – from the kind of Russian cruise and ballistic missile strikes that are devastating Ukraine. But any credible “integrated air and missile defence” plan will cost billions of pounds and would likely require a further increase in defence spending beyond a proposed rise…