Britain is in talks with Europe to join its new Sky Shield air defence system, Grant Shapps has said.

There are currently 21 countries - including the traditionally neutral Switzerland - signed up to the European Sky Shield Initiative.

Shapps says the UK is working with allies in the EU “on what a Sky Shield may look like,” reports The Sun.

The Defence Secretary also said there would be a ship-building boom to help the Royal Navy.

The Sky Sheild system would see missilies, such as the Patriots used in the United States or the Arrow-3s deployed in Israel, used on UK soil if needed.

Shapps has reportedly resisted calls from MPs to buy Israel's Iron Dome technology, instead saying the European Sky Shield talks were in the "early stages".

The Sky Shield Iniative was proposed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz after Vladimir Putin launched missiles on Ukrainian infrastructure in 2022.

When asked how he planned to spend the £75billion pledged for the defence budget between now and 2030, Shapps told the Sun he would "shortly be saying more as a shipbuilding czar.”