UK's National Cyber Force headquarters to be based in Samlesbury, Lancs

It will provide thousands of highly skilled jobs to the North-West region

The government has announced that headquarters of the National Cyber Force (NCF), the agency established to counter cyber threats from terrorists, criminals and hostile states, will be based in Samlesbury, Lancashire.

NCF headquarters will be built near to BAE Systems' aircraft factory which has been involved with military aircraft development since 1922.

The government believes the NCF will help bolster the North-West's position as the cyber centre of the UK and provide thousands of highly skilled jobs and expertise to the region.

"GCHQ already have an office in Manchester and the city is Europe's fastest growing major tech cluster, with more than 15 per cent of Manchester's population employed by the digital, creative and technology sector," the government said.

NCF has been operating secretly since April last year, although it was formally announced in November. The agency includes officials from MI6, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the military, and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), all brought together under a unified command.

The main responsibility of NCF personnel will be to disrupt online communications of groups who are thought to pose a threat to national security, including disrupting servers being used by hostile nations, blocking terrorists' phone signals, and hacking enemy weapons systems.

The unit will also help to prevent the internet being used as a platform for crimes, such as the sexual exploitation of children.

NCF will receive over £5 billion in investment before 2030, according to the government.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the NCF would put the UK at the forefront of countries which could stage cyber attacks on their adversaries.

"We will be one of the very, very few nations in the world with that scale," he said.

"Some foreign states are waging cyber warfare on us every single day. And we have a right under international law and among ourselves to defend ourselves. We will defend ourselves from cyber warfare if that warfare is dangerous, corrupting, or damaging."

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: "The National Cyber Force will help confront aggressive behaviour from malign actors, and demonstrate that Britain is investing in next-generation defence capability to protect our people and help our friends counter cyber threats."

"It sends a powerful message to our allies and adversaries alike."

The announcement on NCF comes months after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the UK needs to advance its cyber capabilities to ensure that threats from adversaries in cyber space are "thwarted at every turn".

The UK spent £38 billion on defence in 2019, or about 2.1 per cent of GDP. This was more than any other European country, though far below the 3.5 per cent of GDP spent by the USA.

Earlier this year, Ben Wallace also outlined the 2030 vision for the country's armed forces, as part of the government's plan to further modernise and upgrade military capabilities.

The strategy, called 'Defence in a Competitive Age,' proposes investing billions of pounds across land, air, sea, cyber and space domains, to enable fast responses to the equally swift changes in the field.

The Defence Department will spend more than £85 billion on equipment over the next four years, in efforts to help the armed forces "adapt, compete effectively, and fight decisively when needed". This will also support about 400,000 jobs across the UK, according to the government.