Defence chiefs spend £1.4bn on new tech to stop a space war with Vladimir Putin 

The Ministry of Defence is investing £1.4billion in cutting-edge technology to ‘prevent war’ in space with Russia.

Laser communication and global satellite surveillance systems are among the latest measures to be taken to bolster Britain’s defences ahead of growing threats from Vladimir Putin.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said it was ‘crucial’ that Britain pushes the ‘frontiers of our defence space ambitions’ in a bid to stay ‘one step ahead of our competitors’.

A total of £1.4billion will be spent as part of the UK’s first space defence strategy – including £968million on a new multi-satellite system, dubbed ISTARI, to boost global surveillance.

A further £61million will be used to develop laser communications to send data from space to Earth as quickly as superfast broadband.

Making the announcement, minister for defence procurement Jeremy Quin slammed Russia as ‘reckless’ and said the Government was ‘acutely aware’ of further threats in space.

He said: ‘Our absolute objective is to prevent any risk of war in space. Over many centuries we have developed the ways of operating safely and securely and having the same norms established in space. 

‘We are at the absolute forefront of that.

‘We are about the safe exploitation of space for the benefit of all people, that is our objective and part of that is the investments you are seeing today.’

Head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, added: ‘With this strategy, the Ministry of Defence will protect and promote the United Kingdom’s interests in space.’