UK to create new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command to take electronic warfare to Russia and China

Digital Targeting Web to apply electronic war to conventional armed forces to be proposed under Strategic Defence Review

The UK is to create a new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command to take electronic warfare to Russia and China as part of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), to be published on Monday.

The unit will be commanded by General Sir James Hockenhull and will have the authority to conduct offensive cyberattack operations alongside the UK’s National Cyber Force.

Moreover, will also be charged with protecting UK military networks against the thousands of attacks they face from hostile adversaries every year. The government claims the UK military has been subjected to more than 90,000 “sub-threshold” attacks over the past two years.

In addition to setting out the UK’s defence priorities into the 2030s, the SDR is also intended to take on board the lessons to be learned from Russia’s war against Ukraine in which the use of increasingly sophisticated drones and electronic warfare is now dominating the battlefield.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, drones are now killing twice as many targets as every other weapon on the battlefield combined. The Royal United Services Institute, meanwhile, suggest that cheap Ukrainian drones are now inflicting two-thirds of the heavy losses suffered by Russia’s armed forces. [PDF]

As part of that, the SDR will also recommend the creation of a Digital Targeting Web by 2027, a £1 billion initiative to upgrade military targeting systems using artificial intelligence, creating a “kill web” that connects military systems.

To attract staff into the new roles that will be created, the SDR will recommend a Cyber Direct Entry programme offering an accelerated career path. This includes tailored training, starting salaries of more than £40,000 – with potential for a further £25,000 pay for acquiring additional skills – and full military benefits, but without the requirement to serve on front lines or in any other dangerous environment. The SDR anticipates operational roles opening by the end of 2025.

Speaking this week at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) information warfare establishment at Corsham, Wiltshire defence minister John Healey said: “The nature of warfare is changing… The keyboard is now a weapon of war and we are responding to that.”

Recognising the lessons learned from the war in Ukraine, he added: “In future conflict, those that prevail will be those who are not just better equipped and better trained, but better connected and also capable of innovating ahead of adversaries.”

However, Graeme Stewart, head of public sector at security specialist Check Point Software, warned that the explicit public emphasis on taking electronic warfare to foreign adversaries might also lead to a ratcheting up of attacks on the UK

“The MoD’s public commitment to AI and autonomous systems on the battlefield is a huge strategic step, but it comes with a glaring, inevitable side effect: cyberattacks on UK infrastructure will escalate.

“This is a clear signal to adversaries. And if Ukraine has taught us anything, it's that cyber warfare doesn’t just accompany kinetic conflict, it often leads it.

“We’re entering a new era where ‘keyboard warfare’ isn't theoretical – it’s already happening. The challenge now isn’t just innovation, it’s fortification – across people, process and technology. Because every advancement will bring an even louder knock at the ‘cyber door’.”

Ominously, perhaps, Stewart advised that people should stock up on tinned soup, just in case the worst comes to the worst.

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