Defence secretary says Britain must manufacture at scale as Germany’s Rheinmetall opens Midlands factory
For the last 20 years, Britain was not able to put a barrel on its tanks without buying from abroad. Relying on foreign allies seemed like a reasonable choice during years of relative security (for wealthy countries at least) after the end of the cold war.
But Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has changed the calculation – and prompted a scramble to rearm among European countries – including the UK.
