House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers
Military Alliances: Australia and USA
Question for Ministry of Defence
Question
Owen Thompson
Scottish National Party
Midlothian
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his AUKUS counterparts on weaponised and industrialised disinformation from cybertroops.
Answer
Mr Ben Wallace
Conservative
Wyre and Preston North
Commons
Answered on 22 September 2021
As part of the AUKUS agreement I will work with my counterparts, and the Five Eyes, to increase Australia-UK-US security collaboration. This will involve a range of areas, such as submarines and other undersea capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and cyber capabilities, including defence against such disinformation campaigns.
Type 45 Destroyers: Repairs and Maintenance
Question for Ministry of Defence
Sarah Atherton
Conservative
Wrexham
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the planned timescales are for the completion of the Type 45 destroyer Power Improvement Package (PIP) upgrade.
Answer
Jeremy Quin
Conservative
Horsham
Commons
Answered on 22 September 2021
HMS DAUNTLESS, the first of class ship to receive the Type 45 Power Improvement Project (PIP) conversion, is at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead where equipment is being set to work following installation. The next phase of the programme will see HMS DAUNTLESS undertake a rigorous trials programme in harbour and subsequently at sea.
HMS DARING has been moved to the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead and will be the second Type 45 Destroyer to undergo her PIP conversion.
It is planned that all six Type 45 ships will have received the PIP conversion by the mid-2020s. The programme is dependent on the availability of ships to undertake the upgrade, balanced against the Royal Navy’s standing and future operational commitments.