Britain assembles a new cyber force of soldiers and spies

THE HEAD of America’s Cyber Command, Paul Nakasone, is a four-star general whose chest is plastered in medals. The commander of Britain’s National Cyber Force (NCF) is a bespectacled, middle-aged man in a beige blazer—a 20-year veteran of GCHQ, Britain’s signals-intelligence service, whose name the government has asked to keep secret. Unassuming as he may be, his agency, responsible for offensive cyber-operations, now stands at the centre of a sweeping overhaul of British defence capabilities.

On November 19th Boris Johnson announced the biggest programme of investment in defence since the Thatcher era. The cash, an extra £6.5bn ($8.7bn) during this parliament over previous manifesto plans, reverses nearly a decade of military cuts and cements Britain’s position as the second-largest military spender in NATO, behind America, and the largest in Europe, with a budget of £46.5bn this year. It includes a tilt towards the seas and skies, with more spending on ships, a commitment to send an aircraft-carrier to Asia next year (with American marines aboard) and a Space Command to watch for threats to satellites.

The central theme, though, is technology. Britain will establish a new agency for artificial intelligence (AI). It will invest more in drones and lasers. And it will beef up cyber capabilities. That explains Mr Johnson’...