Overview
- The Ministry of Defence-backed scheme is confirmed as a voluntary, short-term route into Army, Navy and RAF roles, modelled on Australia’s armed forces gap-year program.
- Recruitment is reported to open in March 2026 with an initial intake of about 150 and an ambition to scale to more than 1,000 participants annually, subject to evaluation.
- Defence Secretary John Healey says the trial will offer young people practical training and a taste of military careers, with key details such as pay, funding and assessment criteria yet to be set.
- Coverage links the initiative to heightened threats from Russia, including televised nuclear rhetoric by Kremlin host Vladimir Solovyov and warnings from spokeswoman Maria Zakharova that Western deployments in Ukraine would be treated as foreign intervention.
- Experts are renewing calls to consider national service or conscription, polling shows broad support for including women if conscription returned, and officials maintain there are no current plans to reintroduce compulsory service.