Armed forces intelligence units unify in face of threats

THE Ministry of Defence (MoD) is unifying all its intelligence units in an overhaul aimed at strengthening the UK’s ability to anticipate growing threats.

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It comes after the inquiry into the 2018 Novichok poisoning of Dawn Sturgess last week demonstrated that foreign intelligence services are operating “far beyond traditional espionage norms”, the MoD said.

The UK sanctioned Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency in its entirety following the release of the report, which found that a GRU squad attempted to murder former spy Sergei Skripal by smearing the nerve agent on his door handle in Salisbury.

The shakeup brings together units from the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force, UK Space Command and Permanent Joint Headquarters to speed up information gathering from land, sea, air, space and cyberspace.