04 Dec 23. Women in the Armed Forces written evidence published. The Defence Committee has published further written evidence received as part of its follow-up work on women in the Armed Forces. The evidence includes personal testimony from current and former Service women.
01 Dec 23. House of Lords Panel Faults MoD over AI in Autonomous Weapons.
Government Warned to Proceed with Caution on AI in Autonomous Weapons. The Artificial Intelligence in Weapon Systems Committee publishes its report Proceed with Caution: Artificial Intelligence in Weapon Systems.
While the Government aims to be “ambitious, safe, responsible”, in its application of artificial intelligence (AI) in defence, aspiration has not lived up to reality.
Bringing AI into the realm of warfare through the use of AI-enabled autonomous weapons systems (AWS) could revolutionise defence technology, but the Government must approach the development and use of AI in AWS in a way that is ethical and legal, while providing key strategic and battlefield benefits. “Ambitious, safe and responsible” must be translated into practical implementation.
As part of this, the Government must seek, establish and retain public confidence and democratic endorsement in the development and use of AI generally, and especially in respect of AWS. This will include increasing public understanding of AI and autonomous weapons, enhancing the role of Parliament in decision making on autonomous weapons, and retaining public confidence in the development and use of autonomous weapons.
Key recommendations
The Committee’s key recommendations include:
–The Government should lead by example in international engagement on regulation of AWS. Outcomes from international debate on the regulation of AWS could be a legally binding treaty or non-binding measures clarifying the application of international humanitarian law. A key element of international engagement will also include leading on efforts to prohibit the use of AI in nuclear command, control and communications.
–The Government should adopt an operational definition of AWS. The Committee was surprised the Government does not currently have one and believes it is possible to create a future-proofed definition which would aid the UK’s ability to make meaningful policy on AWS and engage fully in international discussions.
–The Government should ensure human control at all stages of an AWS’s lifecycle. It is essential to have human control over the deployment of the system both to ensure human moral agency and legal compliance. This must be buttressed by our absolute national commitment to the requirements of international humanitarian law.
–The Government should ensure that its procurement processes are appropriately designed for the world of AI. The Committee heard that the Ministry of Defence’s procurement suffers from a lack of accountability and is overly bureaucratic. It further heard that the Ministry of Defence lacks capability in relation to software and data, both of which are central to the development of AI. This may require revolutionary change. The Committee warns, “if so, so be it; but time is short.”
Chair’s comments
“Artificial Intelligence has spread into many areas of life and defence is no exception. How it could revolutionise defence technology is one of the most controversial uses of AI today.
“There is a growing sense that AI will have a major influence on the future of warfare, and there has been particular debate about how autonomous weapons can comply with international humanitarian law.
“In our report Proceed with Caution: Artificial Intelligence in Weapon Systems, we welcome the fact that the Government has recognised the role of responsible AI in its future defence capability. AI has the potential to provide key battlefield and strategic benefits. However, we make proposals that in doing so, the Government must approach the development and use of AI in AWS cautiously.
“It must embed ethical and legal principles at all stages of design, development and deployment, while achieving public understanding and democratic endorsement.
“Technology should be used when advantageous, but not at unacceptable cost to the UK’s moral principles.”
(Click here for the full report (100 PDF pages), on the UK Parliament website: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5804/ldselect/ldaiwe/16/16.pdf)
(Source: https://www.defense-aerospace.com/ UK House of Lords Defence Committee)
House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers
Ministry of Defence: Standards
Question for Ministry of Defence
Maria Eagle
Labour
Garston and Halewood
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts 2022 to 2023, published on 20 July 2023, what steps he is taking to improve (a) project and (b) programme management (i) monitoring and (ii) compliance.
Answer
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
Answered on 6 December 2023
In October 2022 Defence mandated the Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s best practice project and programme management control framework: Government Functional Standard GovS002 Project delivery. The Department is working to achieve the ‘Good’ level of compliance against the standard. The Ministry of Defence’s Project Delivery Function works with Front Line Commands and delivery organisations to monitor the continuous improvement of project and programme management practices, to assess compliance with the ‘Good’ level of GovS002 and assist with the creation of plans to meet it, and to work to remove barriers to further improvement.
Ministry of Defence: Procurement
Question for Ministry of Defence
Maria Eagle
Labour
Garston and Halewood
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 53 of his Department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, if he will publish the latest version of his Department’s Sustainable Procurement Working Group strategic plan.
Answer
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
Answered on 6 December 2023
There are currently no plans for the Sustainable Procurement Working Group (SPWG) ‘Strategic Plan’ to be published.
Shipbuilding: Procurement
Question for Ministry of Defence
Maria Eagle
Labour
Garston and Halewood
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of the social value weighting that is applied to his Department’s shipbuilding competitions has been used for (a) covid-19 recovery projects, (b) tackling economic inequality, (c) tackling climate change.
Answer
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
Answered on 6 December 2023
The Ministry of Defence places contractual obligations on suppliers to meet social value commitments based on the supplier’s social value proposal. Progress against the obligations is monitored and measured through the life of the contract using appropriate reporting metrics and Key Performance Indicators.
Ministry of Defence: Consultants
Question for Ministry of Defence
Maria Eagle
Labour
Garston and Halewood
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department is taking steps to reduce expenditure on consultancy services.
Answer
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
Answered on 6 December 2023
I can confirm that the Department has taken steps to reduce expenditure on consultancy services.
Rifles
Question for Ministry of Defence
John Healey
Labour
Wentworth and Dearne
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department’s planned timescale is for procuring a replacement for the SA80 rifle.
Answer
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
Answered on 6 December 2023
The current Out of Service Date for the SA80 rifle is 2030. The SA80 replacement Project (known as Project GRAYBURN) is working towards submission of the Strategic Outline Business Case, with the Project entering a formal Concept and Assessment Phase next Financial Year.
A new common basic weapon with up to four variants is expected to be delivered from Financial Year 2026-27. Cost estimates will continue to mature as the procurement strategy takes shape and it would therefore be inappropriate to provide an estimate of the procurement costs at this time.