09 Dec 25. Defence Committee Chair Comment. Responding to the news that a member of the UK armed forces has died in Ukraine, Defence Committee Chair Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi said:
“I am deeply saddened by the news that a member of the UK Armed Forces has lost their life in an accident in Ukraine. On behalf of the Defence Committee, I extend our heartfelt condolences to their family, friends and colleagues. This tragic incident is a stark reminder of the risks faced by those who serve our country, even when operating away from the front lines. I pay tribute to their professionalism and commitment.”
House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers
Defence: Procurement
Question for Ministry of Defence
Ben Obese-Jecty
Conservative
Huntingdon
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answer of 27 November 2025 to question 93243 on Defence: Procurement, for what reason was Project Magenta cancelled.
Answer
Luke Pollard
Labour
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Commons
Answered on 10 December 2025
A routine programme review found Project Magenta was no longer viable in terms of cost or time. The review led to an alternate solution that was not available at the time of project approval.
Defence: Finance
Question for Ministry of Defence
Alex Easton
Independent
North Down
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to implement increased defence expenditure to improve the preparedness and readiness of the armed forces.
Answer
Luke Pollard
Labour
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Commons
Answered on 10 December 2025
As outlined in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review, Defence will increase expenditure to transform the Armed Forces into a more lethal integrated force, equipped for the future. On 25 February 2025, the Prime Minister announced the largest sustained increase to defence spending since the end of the Cold War—rising to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, and to 3% in the next Parliament when fiscal and economic conditions allow. We have already boosted defence by £5 billion this year. The Defence Investment Plan will set out how the Ministry of Defence will deliver the vision of the Strategic Defence Review including steps to improve preparedness and readiness of the Armed Forces.
Military Intelligence
Question for Ministry of Defence
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June to Question 57673 on Military Intelligence, if he has a target date for the full implementation of the Digital Targeting Web.
Answer
Luke Pollard
Labour
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Commons
Answered on 10 December 2025
The Department aims to deliver the first elements of the Digital Targeting Web, or a ‘Minimum Viable Product’, in 2026. What these first deliverables will consist of is still being defined. Plans will be continually reviewed to respond to emerging threats and adjusted as necessary.
No target date has been established for the full implementation of the Digital Targeting Web.
Defence: Procurement
Question for Ministry of Defence
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 34903 on Defence: Procurement, how many staff will be employed as part of the Defence Small and Medium Enterprise Support Hub.
Answer
Luke Pollard
Labour
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Commons
Answered on 10 December 2025
Whilst the exact number of staff employed by the Office for Small Business Growth is still under development, it is anticipated that staffing levels will be adjusted to reflect demand placed upon its services. Funding for the Office, including staff costs, is included within the £770 million Government investment into the delivery of the Defence Industrial Strategy.
Defence: Procurement
Question for Ministry of Defence
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 34903 on Defence: Procurement, who will lead the Defence Small and Medium Enterprise Support Hub.
Answer
Luke Pollard
Labour
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Commons
Answered on 10 December 2025
I am pleased to confirm that Senior Civil Servant, Tim Ketton-Locke has been appointed to lead the office and took up post on 3 November 2025.
MOD Ashchurch: Vehicles
Question for Ministry of Defence
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled Storage facility for over 900 vehicles completed at MOD Ashchurch, published on 5 March 2025, if he has a target date for the demolition of 58 existing buildings as part of the Vehicle Storage and Support Programme.
Answer
Luke Pollard
Labour
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Commons
Answered on 10 December 2025
The Vehicle Storage and Support Programme (VSSP) remains on schedule and work at MOD Ashchurch will be completed in 2027.
Demolition of all 58 existing buildings as part of the VSSP, has been completed.
Navy: Electronic Warfare
Question for Ministry of Defence
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress he has made on the UK Maritime Electronic Warfare Programme.
Answer
Luke Pollard
Labour
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Commons
Answered on 10 December 2025
The Maritime Electronic Warfare Programme (MEWP) comprises two constituent parts, the first of which, the Maritime Electronic Warfare Systems Integrated Capability (MEWSIC), has entered the final testing phase with installation at the Royal Navy’s Integration facility at Portsdown Technology Park underway. The other half of MEWP is the Electronic Warfare Countermeasure (EWCM) Project which will deliver a trainable decoy launcher designed to counter anti-ship missiles and enhance survivability. Critical Design Review for the project was conducted mid-November 25 as part of preparation for production readiness.
Unmanned Air Systems: Procurement
Question for Ministry of Defence
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many TEKEVER AR3 uncrewed air platforms he has procured since 5 July 2024.
Answer
Luke Pollard
Labour
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Commons
Answered on 10 December 2025
For reasons of operational security, we cannot provide details on the numbers of TEKEVER AR3 uncrewed air platforms procured by the Ministry of Defence.
Guided Weapons
Question for Ministry of Defence
Stuart Andrew
Conservative
Daventry
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Government plans to publish a detailed roadmap for improving national missile defence capabilities, including timelines and funding commitments.
Answer
Luke Pollard
Labour
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Commons
Answered on 10 December 2025
The Strategic Defence Review announced up to £1 billion of investment in Integrated Air and Missile Defence. This announcement responds to the threat the UK faces and will shape our future Integrated Air and Missile Defence capability. Work to deliver the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including on homeland Integrated Air and Missile Defence, will be prioritised appropriately against the assessed threat picture as part of the future Integrated Force and set out in the Defence Investment Plan to be published this year.
Warrior Vehicles: Decommissioning
Question for Ministry of Defence
Ben Obese-Jecty
Conservative
Huntingdon
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timeline is for the Warrior disposal plan up to its out of service date in 2027.
Answer
Luke Pollard
Labour
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Commons
Answered on 10 December 2025
As of 8 December 2025, there are 388 Warrior vehicles in service in the active fleet and those yet to start the disposal process.
Warships: Repairs and Maintenance
Question for Ministry of Defence
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the Royal Navy vessels that have completed the Power Improvement Project upgrade.
Answer
Luke Pollard
Labour
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Commons
Answered on 11 December 2025
As of December 2025, three Type 45 Destroyers have completed their Power Improvement Project (PIP) upgrades: HMS DAUNTLESS, HMS DARING, and HMS DRAGON, HMS DEFENDER and HMS DIAMOND are currently undergoing PIP upgrades. HMS DUNCAN is operational, pending the start of her PIP upgrade, which will run concurrently with her next docking period at HMNB Portsmouth.
We are unable to release further detailed information about the forward integrated PIP schedule and upkeep plans for the Type 45 Destroyers, as to do so could risk revealing future capability levels to our adversaries.
Completing the Type 45 PIP work is dependent on the availability of ships to undertake the upgrade, balanced against the Royal Navy’s (RN) current and future operational commitments. Class availability is now maximised to ensure that the RN has been able to fulfil all its operational commitments and PIP remains on target to have all six ships receive their conversions by 2028.
Unmanned Air Systems: Procurement
Question for Ministry of Defence
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Written Statement of 27 November 2025 on MOD Security Review, HCWS1103, how much his Department has spent on Remote Piloted Aerial Systems since 5 July 2024.
Answer
Al Carns
Labour
Birmingham Selly Oak
Commons
Answered on 11 December 2025
Before April 2025 this information was not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate costs. I can, however, confirm that for this financial year we have approved £4.6 million on equipment, service and maintenance, and training on Remote Piloted Aerial Systems (RPAS) for the purpose of enhancing our base security as set out in the 27 November 2025 statement on MOD Security Review.
Initial training will commence in January 2026 with the first tranche of pilots completing their training by March 2026. The pilots will range in rank from non-commissioned officers to senior non-commissioned officers, and civilian equivalents. Those who will be trained to manage the safety risk of the systems will be officers and civilian equivalents.
We take security extremely seriously. This investment demonstrates our commitment to enhance our ability to deter and respond to threats.
Challenger Tanks
Question for Ministry of Defence
Ben Obese-Jecty
Conservative
Huntingdon
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Challenger 2 tanks have now begun conversion to Challenger 3.
Answer
Luke Pollard
Labour
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Commons
Answered on 11 December 2025
There are 285 Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks in service in the British Army. The Ministry of Defence does not break down equipment numbers further due to operational sensitivity.
Eight vehicles are allocated to Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) for the design, build and testing phase of Challenger 3 conversion. The manufacturing phase is yet to start.
Boeing P-8 and Type 26 Frigates: North Atlantic Ocean
Question for Ministry of Defence
James MacCleary
Liberal Democrat
Lewes
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Type 26 frigates and (b) P-8 Poseidon aircraft will be assigned to Atlantic Bastion and when will they begin operations as part of AB.
Answer
Al Carns
Labour
Birmingham Selly Oak
Commons
Answered on 11 December 2025
Atlantic Bastion (AB) is Defence’s plan to secure the North Atlantic for the UK and NATO against the persistent and growing underwater threat. AB is not an operation; it is a plan to transition to a hybrid Navy, combining both crewed and uncrewed underwater systems. The details of this ambition are subject to the Defence Investment Plan.
Ajax Vehicles: Procurement
Question for Ministry of Defence
James MacCleary
Liberal Democrat
Lewes
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Department has commissioned any further independent reviews of the Ajax programme since 2023.
Answer
Luke Pollard
Labour
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Commons
Answered on 11 December 2025
We have three ongoing reviews into Ajax currently underway:
- Defence Accident Investigation Branch (DAIB)
- Army Safety Investigation Team (ASIT)
- Ministerial-led Review
Global Combat Air Programme
Question for Ministry of Defence
Mr Gregory Campbell
Democratic Unionist Party
East Londonderry
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when regulatory approvals will be given to BAE Systems, Leonardo and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement to allow a joint venture for the Global Combat Air Programme to begin work.
Answer
Luke Pollard
Labour
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Commons
Answered on 11 December 2025
All necessary regulatory approvals were in place ahead of the Edgewing incorporation in June.
Defence: Procurement
Question for Ministry of Defence
James Cartlidge
Conservative
South Suffolk
Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 34903 on Defence: Procurement, if he will list the other sectors outside the defence sector who will be consulted on the Defence Small and Medium Enterprise Support Hub.
Answer
Luke Pollard
Labour
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Commons
Answered on 10 December 2025
Development of the new Defence Office for Business Growth is well underway. It continues to consult a wide variety of stakeholders, including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), prime contractors, Regional Defence and Security Clusters, and trade associations representing their members operating both within and outside of the defence sector.
The Office will also work with the Department for Business and Trade’s Business Growth Service, where relevant, to consult with the non-defence sectors included within the Modern Industrial Strategy.