Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

What progress he has made on migrating all users to the new managed print service.

The Migration Phase of the new Managed Print Service is complete. The project has achieved Full Operating Capability.

If he will list the disused (a) Royal Navy bases, (b) Army bases, (c) Royal Air Force bases, and (d) surplus land awaiting disposal.

A list of all Ministry of Defence (MOD) sites that are currently available for purchase can be found on the MOD’s disposals website via gov.uk. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disposal-database-house-of-commons-report

What progress he has made in migrating all SECRET Tier users to the new MODNET platform.

There are currently no plans to migrate SECRET Tier users to a new MODNET platform.

With reference to page 47 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 8 July 2025, what recent progress he has made on developing the secret cloud.

A contract has been put in place with Google for the provision of Secret Cloud services to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for at least the next five years. Security delivered for working people as UK-US ties strengthened with new Google Cloud partnership for classified information sharing - GOV.UK The capability is being developed jointly by MOD and Google, with workload development and testing carried out over the next six months. The aim is to have the capability available for general use across MOD in 2026.

With reference to page 47 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 8 July 2025, what recent progress he has made on implementing the core digital platform for the warfighter.

The fundamental capabilities of the core common platform set out within the Strategic Defence Review already exist and are being used today; however, they are not at the scale or delivering the integrated and innovative capabilities at the speed required to support the Integrated Force model. Progress is continuously being made. In September 2025, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement with Palantir (link) which will help the UK military develop the latest digital tools and harness Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to accelerate decision making, improve targeting and keep the nation safe from evolving threats. A contract with Google was also signed (link) to ensure that MOD has access to the latest technology developed by Google Cloud, including AI, data analytics, and cyber security, and will be used by defence intelligence and national security specialists to share secure information between our partners and outcompete our adversaries.

With reference to page 114 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 8 July 2025, what assessment he has made of the opportunities for cost-sharing with NATO Allies in procuring more E-7 Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question 70763 on 8 September 2025 to the hon. Member for South Suffolk (James Cartlidge).

What the outcome was of the high-altitude uncrewed balloon tests conducted in South Dakota, USA under Project Aether.

The trials in South Dakota were successful and achieved or surpassed all intended test objectives. The objectives included:Providing 24-hour Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) coverage in high-latitude winter conditions at high-altitude;Locating, identifying, and tracking signals, and disseminating data over both Line of Sight and Satellite communications;Maintaining continuous endurance at high altitude;andEnabling airborne handover of ISR coverage between different platforms.

With reference to page 122 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what progress he has made on establishing a Spectrum Coordination Office.

A Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Organisation has been designed as part of the 2 star Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Force Headquarters. Scope, scale, basing options and timetable are dependent on the outcome of the Defence Investment Plan.

What the full scope is of Project AETHER.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 19 September, to Question 76405. Project AETHER is at the trial phase. Initial planning is underway for a further trial, following the completion of the project first two trials.

If he will list the military capability projects within the Government Major Projects Portfolio rated as red.

The latest National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority's Annual Report for the Financial Year ending 31 March 2025 was published on 11 August 2025: NISTA Annual Report 2024-25 - GOV.UK.This fully digital report lists the full composition of the Government Major Programmes Portfolio by Department, Category and the Delivery Confidence Assessment at that time in the Section 3.3 headline figure suite of tables.

With reference to page 131 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what options private sector healthcare offers for supporting personnel in (a) maintaining and (b) recovering fighting fitness.

As outlined in the Strategic Defence Review, the Ministry of Defence recognises private-sector healthcare offers options for supporting personnel in maintaining and recovering fighting fitness. Defence Medical Services commissions private healthcare treatment for Service personnel which falls outside NHS policy and provision. Bespoke private-sector healthcare pathways are also offered for some Service personnel in priority trade groups who are on NHS waiting lists for longer than 18 weeks. Additionally, the Regional Rehabilitation Unit Fast Track Scheme, in contract with a private-sector healthcare provider, delivers rapid access to high quality musculoskeletal diagnostic imaging, high quality orthopaedic specialist surgical intervention and access to an accelerated spinal care pathway.

With reference to page 127 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, what progress he has made on tackling barriers to interoperability between defence and the UK Intelligence Community.

Collaboration with partners across Government, including the UK Intelligence Community (UKIC), is essential to Defence outputs-both in routine activity and on operations. The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) sets a clear ambition to strengthen collaboration and interoperability, enabling delivery of the Integrated Force and the Digital Targeting Web. Defence is already interoperable with Government partners and capable of sharing data and intelligence. However, there are further opportunities to improve. To address this, multiple programmes are ongoing which aim to enhance interoperability and remove barriers to information sharing. These initiatives vary in maturity but are already being adopted across the MOD and UKIC and delivering measurable benefits.Additional work is underway to modernise data-handling approaches across National Security, leveraging technological advances to enable machine-speed sharing where appropriate. Combined with the MOD's broader technology modernisation programmes, these efforts will deliver improved capability, interoperability, and resilience across Defence and Government partners.

With reference to recommendation 38 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 8 July 2025, what progress he has made in delivering an integrated frigate force comprising of (a) crewed, (b) uncrewed and (c) autonomous platforms via a new partnership with industry.

The Royal Navy has made significant early progress in delivering an integrated frigate force comprising crewed, uncrewed, and autonomous platforms, in line with Recommendation 38 of SDR 25. This initiative is central to our future Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capability and is being pursued through a new, dynamic partnership with industry. The Type-26 Frigate remains the cornerstone of the RN’s crewed anti-submarine warfare capability plan and will be at the heart of the future fleet. The Atlantic Bastion programme operates with T26 at its centre and will secure the North Atlantic against subsurface threats for the UK and NATO. We have initiated trials of several uncrewed surface and sub-surface systems with the intent that uncrewed systems will integrate with Type 26 and other fleet assets.

What progress his Department has made in completing the Power Improvement Project refit of the Royal Navy Type 45 fleet.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my noble Friend, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence (Lord Coaker), on 20 January 2025 to Question number HL3859 in the House of Lords: Completing the Type 45 Power Improvement Project (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. PIP conversions have been aligned to the routine Class Upkeep cycle, which has been optimised where feasible to accelerate delivery and increase availability. This has enabled an increase in the number of ships undergoing PIP Upkeep in parallel at HM Naval Base Portsmouth, where historically there was only a single Type 45 in Upkeep at any one time. Class availability is now maximised to ensure that the RN has been able to fulfil all its operational commitments.

With reference to page 121 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what rank commands the National Cyber Force.

As announced in the press release dated 16 October 2023, The National Cyber Force is commanded by a 2 star Military Officer, or a Civil Servant at SCS2 level. Currently, Commander National Cyber Force is Air Vice-Marshal Tim Neal-Hopes OBE.

With reference to the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology on ensuring that defence requirements are reflected in cross-Government efforts to deliver resilient space-based Positioning, Navigation and Timing systems.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has a longstanding relationship and regular conversation with for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Staff engagement is regular and pre-dates the Strategic Defence Review.The MOD engages with colleagues in DSIT and other Government Departments on Positioning, Navigation and Timing spans requirements, capabilities, technical details and policy considerations. This is to ensure coherency between our department's work and wider Government investment plans.A military officer has been embedded in the DSIT National PNT Office since 2021 to aid this on a day-to-day basis and reflecting the importance of cross-departmental working.

With reference to page 130 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what progress he has made on conducting an urgent sprint review to strengthen the partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care.

There is a strong foundation of cross-Government working between the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), including planning to meet the demands of warfighting and other strategic health emergencies. A series of workshops involving both the MOD and DHSC are exploring the UK’s ability to deal with various combat scenarios and the treatment of casualties. The MOD is also participating in DHSC’s cross-Government Exercise PEGASUS, the national tier 1 pandemic preparedness exercise set to assess the UK’s ability to respond to a pandemic. Both activities focus on understanding system-wide capacity and capability, potential future need and shared plans for delivery.

What his planned timeline is for the installation of the Helicopter Visual Landing Aid System across the batch 2 fleet.

The planned timeline for installation of Glamox HVLAS (Helicopter Visual Landing Aid System) to the remainder of the Batch 2 Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) Fleet is aligned to the platform’s five Annual Recertification Maintenance Periods. An exception to this may be due to operational requirement, or if there is a funding and timing opportunity to enable the advancement of installation work. Wildcat are the Royal Navy’s cleared aircraft and HVLAS is suitable for all aircraft from Partner Nations, although limited by their size and weight.

What the full scope is of Project Cortisone.

The vision for Programme CORTISONE is to deliver a sustainable, integrated, cohesive and enduring information capability to support the delivery of evidence-based medical and dental health and healthcare outputs. The scope of Programme CORTISONE to March 2028 is outlined below: An electronic healthcare record (EHR) capability for Primary healthcare, dentistry, intermediate care and mental health, in fixed overseas locations (FOSL) and deployed (air, land and sea) settingAn occupational health application capabilityA high-level design and ecosystem for interoperability within MOD and with NHS England, devolved nations and NATOProvision of data management for flat files, images and documentationProvision for data management and exploitation to support Defence Medical Services (DMS) and Defence Statistics across the DMS and operational data spaceLaboratory Information Management capability in the deployed settingPre-hospital and emergency, trauma and evacuation EHR capabilityReach back consultations for deployed operationsTriaging and remote consultations for FOSL

With reference to page 131 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, updated 8 July 2025, what progress he made in improving the (a) physical and (b) digital infrastructure of Defence Medical Services.

The Defence Investment Plan will set out how the Ministry of Defence (MOD) will deliver the vision of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) over the next 10 years, including confirming the funding available to improve the physical and digital infrastructure of Defence Medical Services, together with medical evacuation and medical stockpiles. The SDR commits the MOD to establish a ten-year physical infrastructure plan for Defence medical by February 2026, including options for medical infrastructure drawing on the NHS and private finance.