Britain to test readiness for hybrid attack in biggest defence drill for decades

LONDON – Britain said on July 14 it would carry out its biggest home defence exercise in decades in 2027, seeking to test its ability to counter hybrid threats such as cyberattacks, disinformation and sabotage of critical infrastructure.

Britain and its European allies have rapidly accelerated defence preparations since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, with NATO warning that Moscow could be ready to attack Europe by 2030.

Britain has said Russia has stepped up hybrid threats, from physical and cyberattacks to information warfare.

While the drill scenario would be kept secret, the government said it would test Britain’s readiness for hybrid attacks and complement a NATO crisis-management exercise designed to test how allies coordinate political and military responses to major security crises.

The multi-day exercise would involve ministers and hundreds of officials from across government and the public sector, senior minister Darren Jones said on July 14.

Britain also updated its official list of the biggest threats it faces, adding attempts to interfere with democracy, such as election interference, disinformation campaigns or foreign influence operations.

Overall, seven new risks were added, including cyberattacks on data infrastructure, water infrastructure and police systems, and a “digital resilience failure” risk based on lessons from the CrowdStrike outage in 2024, which crashed more than 8 million Microsoft Windows-based computers worldwide.

The government said it would also launch a national public awareness campaign later in 2026 to encourage households to prepare for emergencies such as severe weather, flooding and cyberattacks. REUTERS