Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

What the out-of-service date is of the L121A1 rifle.

On current plans, the Out of Service Dates (OSD) for the L115A3 and L121 rifles are 2030. An OSD enables future planning, however, it is ultimately a guideline which can be subject to change. The UK Armed Forces continually assesses its current capabilities to ensure that it is appropriately equipped to face any adversary. If it remains an effective and required capability at the time of the planned OSD, it is possible that the OSD will be extended.

With reference to page 41 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what recent progress he has made in halving the gap with US venture capital funding into defence.

The Defence Finance and Investment Strategy announced in the Defence Industrial Strategy and at the Defence Investment Summit is under development and due to be published in early 2026. It will look at the entire spectrum of defence companies, from start-ups through to primes, and provide recommendations to the Defence Secretary on how barriers to investment in defence can be removed while making the sector more attractive for private investment, including venture capital, private equity and pension funds. Development of the strategy is supported by a new Defence Investors’ Advisory Group who will bring their industry expertise to our central mission to boost high-growth, high-tech companies of the future and build the next unicorn defence company in the UK.

What the out-of-service date is of the L115A3 rifle.

On current plans, the Out of Service Dates (OSD) for the L115A3 and L121 rifles are 2030. An OSD enables future planning, however, it is ultimately a guideline which can be subject to change. The UK Armed Forces continually assesses its current capabilities to ensure that it is appropriately equipped to face any adversary. If it remains an effective and required capability at the time of the planned OSD, it is possible that the OSD will be extended.

With reference to page 52 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what recent progress he has made in establishing the Defence Office for Small Business Growth.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises that SMEs seeking to work in defence face unique challenges. The department is committed to simplifying access to UK defence for SMEs removing unnecessary barriers and making it easier for small businesses to find the right support and guidance. Work on delivering the new Defence Office for Small Business Growth is well underway, and MOD has consulted widely with small businesses and across UK industry to ensure that the new service meets defence SMEs needs. The exact detail of how the Office for Small Business Growth will operate, including the scope of services is being developed in close consultation with industry but will include more coherent access to existing supplier development programmes and a range of direct services to SMEs enabling them to better navigate the UK defence environment. Initial operating capability will be achieved in the spring of 2026

With reference to page 70 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, when he expects the Defence Tech Scaler pilot be fully operational.

Defence Tech Scaler is at Minimum Viable Product phase as of September 2025 while the marketplace and processes are under development. The Ministry of Defence is committed to expanding and improving Defence Tech Scaler with a view to make it fully operational in 2026.

With reference to page 69 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what national security issues the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory plans to prioritise.

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory plans to prioritise national security issues aligned with the National Armaments Director (NAD) Group organisational design as part of Defence Reform, which remains in progress. As set out in the Strategic Defence Review, this list will include chemical and biological defence, novel and unconventional weapons systems, counter-terrorism technology and manufacturing, including specialist munitions, and other areas where the Ministry of Defence requires to be an intelligent customer for Science and Technology.

With reference to page 51 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, when he plans to commission the Competition and Markets Authority to support his Department in monitoring (a) competition and (b) supply chain structures in the defence industrial base.

In accordance with the Defence Industrial Strategy the Department is already engaged with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Public Policy Team to provide subject matter expertise on the review of the single source contracting regulations. The CMA are also working with the Department in reviewing the state of defence competition.

What the full scope is of Project drone academy.

Project DRONE ACADEMY was an innovation project delivered by Cyber and Specialist Operations Command (formerly UK Strategic Command) innovation team, the jHub. The project sought to explore novel learning pathways to rapidly deliver uncrewed systems (UxS) training, namely on First Person View (FPV) drones, to personnel across Defence. The outputs from Project DRONE ACADEMY have been used to inform longer term Defence training requirements, while concurrently providing Defence with a base level of FPV operators to build upon.

With reference to page 24 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, what steps he has taken to ensure that cryptography capability is UK-based.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises that Crypt-Key is fundamental to the defence and security of the UK. The ability to develop Crypt-Key technologies and capabilities is a strategic imperative for the United Kingdom’s (UK) national security. The National Crypt-Key Strategy and the Crypt-Key Industrial Strategy were approved by the National Security Council (NSC) in May 2022. The MOD has implemented the core strategy outcomes such as the Cabinet Office Spent Control measures for Crypt-Key and continues to support their full implementation. The Defence Industrial Strategy (2025) continues to recognise Crypt-Key as a critical sub-sector where strategic imperative requires full, or majority, industrial capability to be UK-based. The MOD has taken the appropriate steps to ensure alignment to the Crypt-Key strategies.

What the full scope is of Project Loca.

For reasons of operational security, I am unable to provide details relating to Project Loca.

With reference page 46 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what progress he has made on exploring a partnership with UCAS to promote defence careers.

We continue to work with UCAS to promote defence careers and explore the scope of support they can offer in raising awareness of defence career pathways among students and educators. This includes working with UCAS to create an industry guide and to support an increased number of defence employers represented on their existing portal. Further details will be published in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 April 2025 to Question 44144 on Armed Forces: Training, what steps his Department has taken to improve the British Army Apprenticeship programme’s Ofsted rating.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to ensuring the British Army Apprenticeship Programme (AAP) achieves the highest standards of training and continues its progress towards an Outstanding Ofsted rating. The Army, as the UK’s largest Employer Provider with 12,500 soldier apprentices across 41 programmes, continues to achieve results well above the national average. The AAP operates a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP), informed by Ofsted inspections and an internal Self-Assessment Process, which is being updated to align with the new Ofsted Further Education and Skills Inspection Toolkit (FES IT) coming into effect in November 2025. Key improvements being implemented include digitalising the programme by 2027, creating 92 additional management posts to oversee End Point Assessment delivery, enhancing functional skills delivery and governance, improving curriculum standards, reducing the number of Post Planned End Date learners, and strengthening safeguarding measures.

How many veterans have gained full-time employment via the Veteran Industry Engagement Programme since its inception.

The Veterans Industry Engagement Programme (VIEP) is a free, Government-backed advocacy service designed to collaborate with industry and trade bodies. It helps organisations adopt veteran-friendly practices and behaviours, ensuring the skills and talents veterans bring to the workforce are recognised and valued. By fostering this engagement, critical sectors can better leverage a vital national strategic asset - the Armed Forces community. This initiative is delivered by the charity Mission Community who have developed a framework of sector specific initiatives to create sustainable employment opportunities for service leavers, veterans, reservists and military families. VIEP forms part of a suite of wider initiatives supporting Veterans into employment including Op ASCEND, which has successfully engaged over 420 employers and supported over 4,600 veterans and family members.

What the full scope is of Project Rosetta.

Project ROSETTA was a cross-Government (x-HMG) innovation project. It conducted a cost-effective, UK-based immersive language and culture isolation programme aimed at enhancing the language proficiency and cultural understanding of x-HMG language students. The trial specifically focused on Chinese Mandarin. Feedback from the trial was positive. We are now using the findings to explore options for establishing long-term immersive language training facilities for a range of languages.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 44144 on Armed Forces: Training, what recent steps his Department has taken to help improve University Officer Training Corps’ OFSTED rating to Outstanding.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to ensuring the highest standards of training and welfare across all its establishments, including the University Officer Training Corps (UOTC) Group and its efforts to achieve an Outstanding Ofsted rating The UOTC was inspected by OFSTED in February 2024, resulting in a GOOD rating, with five key recommendations for improvement. The Combined Individual Training Assurance Team (CITAT) has worked with the UOTC Group to address these areas, and significant progress has been made across all areas. Actions have included enhancing staff training, improving facilities maintenance, streamlining medical clearance processes, mitigating the impact of budget constraints, and centralising quality improvement processes.

With reference to page 23 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, how the members of the Defence Industrial Joint Council are selected.

Membership of the Ministerially chaired council comprises a diverse group of defence sector partners, including SMEs, primes, tech, investors, trade associations, academia and Trade Unions. This signals a significant step in establishing the MOD’s new approach to partnerships; one focused on collaboration across the breadth of the UK’s defence ecosystem. All members of the DIJC have been appointed, via HMG’s Public Appointments Process, based on the expertise and insight they bring. Spaces allocated to different sector groups have, through necessity, been limited to ensure a Council with a diverse membership from across the defence landscape and of a suitable size to drive pace and support delivery of the Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS). All appointments to the DIJC top Council are made for an initial period of 12 months after which they will be reviewed, ensuring a principle of rotation is built into the membership and to provide opportunities for new organisations to participate.

With reference to page 52 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what progress he has made on implementing a bespoke commercial pathway for SMEs.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) hold a crucial place in UK defence. They are the backbone of the UK economy and are vital to delivering the innovation, expertise and agility that we need now and in the future. This is recognised in the Defence Industrial Strategy, as well as the Department’s Social Value policy. We work with our largest suppliers through a network of their SME Champions, trade associations and SME representatives to ensure that smaller companies have access to opportunities in our supply chain and that our prime contractors are adopting policies, such as fair payment practices, that support small businesses working in defence. We are also introducing a new SME Commercial Pathway as part of our broader acquisition transformation. Through this pathway, Defence will increase the number of opportunities for SMEs, and make our contracting processes simpler, less onerous and faster. This Government has already announced an ambitious but achievable target to spend £7.5 billion with SMEs by 2028 which will see direct spend increase by approximately £700 million during the next three years, and we will launch a new Office For Small Business Growth to provide SMEs with better access to the defence supply chain, ensuring that thousands of small businesses in the UK, continue to lead the way in developing the world-beating technologies and services that we will need.

With reference to page 48 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what his Department's planned timetable is for broadening the range of employers it supports through the Jobs and Careers Service.

The Department for Work and Pensions through the new Jobs and Careers Service is taking steps to broaden its support for employers by engaging over 8,000 strategic and local businesses, tailoring services to regional labour market needs, and collaborating with trade bodies and Government Departments to deliver inclusive recruitment campaigns, sector-specific training, and modernised job-matching tools. This is as a result of the Get Britain Working White Paper published in November 2024.

How many and what proportion of his Department's suppliers are registered on the central procurement platform.

The Department has a total of 20,690 active unique suppliers with live contracts The Department has a total of 131,172 unique suppliers.

With reference to page 65 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, from where the UK Defence Innovation Rapid Innovation Unit will access below market rate loans.

UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) will continue invest in structures to support business growth and to increase investment into SMEs, start-ups, and non-traditional defence and security suppliers to support a diverse and agile supply chain and ensure delivery of pioneering capability to national security and defence. The UKDI - Defence and Security Accelerator (UKDI_DASA) is a Special Partner in the delivery of The Defence and Security (D&S) Seed Fund portfolio, which is funded by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and sits within UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund (UKI2S). UKI2S is a Pre seed and Seed fund for defence and Security SMEs with investment from MOD for SME innovation looking for private equity funding. The UKDI - Defence and Security Accelerator (UKDI_DASA) supported by Innovate UK Loans Ltd (Innovate UK) delivers a Defence funding competition: the Defence Innovation Loan. This service provides an opportunity for single Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with solutions to defence themed problems to apply for a Defence Innovation Loan of between £100,000 and £1 million with a below market interest rate of 7.4% per annum