Race to rearm: Telford gun hall brings tank barrel production back to the UK

Wes Streeting, defence secretary, inspects the equipment used by Rheinmetall to produce large-calibre weapons. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

For the last 20 years, Britain was unable to put a barrel on its tanks without buying from abroad. Relying on foreign allies seemed like a reasonable choice during years of relative security (for wealthy countries at least) after the end of the cold war.

But Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has changed the calculation – and prompted a scramble to rearm among European countries, including the UK.