NextFin news, On Monday, September 8, 2025, UK Defence Secretary John Healey unveiled a new Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) during a visit to Rowden, a defence technology firm in Bristol. The strategy is backed by £250 million in funding and aims to stimulate economic growth and innovation in the defence sector across the United Kingdom.
The DIS is designed to create up to 50,000 new defence-related jobs by 2035, including highly skilled engineering roles and apprenticeships for young people. The initiative focuses on fostering collaboration among local authorities, businesses, academia, and the defence industry to harness regional strengths and boost local economies.
Central to the strategy are five Defence Growth Deals, which will be established across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. These deals will target areas with high defence potential, combining government and industry investment to drive innovation, skills development, and job creation.
The first Defence Growth Deals will be located in Plymouth, South Yorkshire, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Plymouth, home to Western Europe's largest naval base, will receive investment to advance maritime autonomy. South Yorkshire will focus on specialist materials and components production. Wales aims to grow its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sector, Scotland will invest in space, maritime, and technology industries, and Northern Ireland will build on its cybersecurity and maritime strengths.
Defence Secretary John Healey stated, "The Defence Industrial Strategy will make defence an engine for growth across the UK, backing British jobs, British industry and British innovators. We want to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a defence firm and will put Britain at the leading edge of innovation."
Chancellor Rachel Reeves emphasized the economic benefits, saying, "This is a plan for good jobs paying decent wages in Cardiff, Belfast, Glasgow, Sheffield, Plymouth and beyond. Through Defence Growth Deals, we will unleash the power of local economies while securing our country."
The strategy is supported by a historic increase in UK defence spending, projected to rise to 2.6% of GDP by 2027, with ambitions to reach 3% in the next Parliament. This funding underpins the DIS and the Defence Growth Deals, ensuring long-term sustainability and responsiveness to future defence challenges.
The launch event took place at Rowden's new facility in Bristol, a veteran-founded company specializing in critical sensing and decision-making technologies for the Armed Forces. The firm has expanded significantly, now occupying over 20,000 square feet of engineering and production space.
The UK government expects the Defence Industrial Strategy to strengthen the national industrial base, enhance innovation cycles between industry and the military, and deliver economic benefits to communities across the country, from Cornwall to the Highlands.
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