The UK is spending more than £1 billion ($1.35 billion) setting up a new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command and is recruiting a few good men and women to join up and staff it.
In an announcement on Thursday, Defense Secretary John Healey said the new Command would protect all military networks from attacks, saying that the UK had been hit by 90,000 “sub-threshold” attacks in the last two years. It’ll also take a more offensive role online in conjunction with the National Cyber Force.
These new kinds of attack could mean everything from breaking into an opponent’s computer systems, disabling or jamming remote equipment like drones, to the traditional collating and decoding of signals intelligence that was such a help in the last World War, and would be vital in the next one.
“Ways of warfare are rapidly changing – with the UK facing daily cyber-attacks on this new frontline,” Healey said in a statement.
“The hard-fought lessons from Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine leave us under no illusions that future conflicts will be won through forces that are better connected, better equipped, and innovating faster than their adversaries.”
As well as the new Command, Healey said the Ministry of Defence would also be investing some of the money in a Digital Targeting Web that can link British military assets and enable more coordinated attacks against the enemies of the nation. He gave the example of a satellite spotting a target, or naval vessel, where the DTW might help guide in a munition from an F-35 or drone.
“We will give our Armed Forces the ability to act at speeds never seen before – connecting ships, aircraft, tanks and operators so they can share vital information instantly and strike further and faster,” he said.
This being 2025 he did also say that AI would be a part of this, but chiefly the military are looking to recruit actual humans to do a lot of the grunt work. And while colleagues at GCHQ and in the civil service are still getting lowballed on salaries, the military deal doesn’t look too bad.
The base pay for the new roles is £40,939 ($55,268) base pay with up to £25,000 ($33,750) extra if the applicant has the right skills, or can learn them. Applicants need to be non-naturalized British or Irish subjects, will get on the job training, and there is “no requirement to serve in dangerous environments or handle weapons.”
Recruitment has already begun and the first team members will be deployed at the end of the year, primarily from the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. Recruits will be based at MoD Corsham, the military’s communications hub in the Worcestershire countryside, or with the National Cyber Force in Lancashire.
“By attracting the best digital talent, and establishing a nerve center for our cyber capability, we will harness the latest innovations, properly fund Britain’s defenses for the modern age and support the government’s Plan for Change,” Healey opined. ®
