Tories pledge £10bn for British anti-missile defence system

The Conservatives have pledged to invest £10bn in a system to defend Britain against long-range missiles and drones, if they win the next general election.

The party said the "Britannia Shield" would offer the UK an integrated network of radar, command and control systems, as well as interceptor missiles.

The Tories initially said the system would be "in essence a British 'Iron Dome'", likening it to Israel's missile shield, however party leader Kemi Badenoch drew back from the comparison in broadcast interviews.

She said the plan would be funded from within their commitment to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2030, paid for by welfare reform and reprioritisation of other spending.

Badenoch said that the £10bn cost would be split over 10 years, with £1bn allocated each year for the project.

Earlier this year, Gen Sir Richard Barrons told MPs on the Commons defence select committee "the cost of an iron dome at entry level is probably £80bn over 10 years".

Speaking to the BBC, Badenoch said: "We are not building the iron dome... we are designing something specific for the kind of threat that we face here."

She added: "It is not going to be the daily onslaught that Israel has, so we don't need that level of capability."