Every parliamentary written question tabled by Ben Obese-Jecty this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1,581–1,600 of 2,264 · Ministry of Defence
Pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2025 to Question 48996 on Armoured Fighting Vehicles: Decommissioning, what progress he has made on procuring a replacement for the Jackal 2 Reconnaissance Vehicle.
The Light Protected Mobility project, within the Land Mobility Programme, will determine the future Light Protected Mobility fleet. The project is in its Concept Phase, as such investment approval and procurement timelines are to be determined.
Pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2025 to Question 48996 on Armoured Fighting Vehicles: Decommissioning, what progress he has made on procuring replacement for the Viking Personnel Armoured Vehicle.
Currently there are no direct replacements planned for the Viking Personnel Armoured Vehicle.
How many FV433 Bulldog vehicles are in service.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 9 September 2025, to Question 74743, where it states the total number of FV433 Bulldog vehicles in service is 750.
With reference to the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy, published in June 2025, what progress he has made in launching an alliance with the High Value Manufacturing Catapult.
The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, published in June, announced the formation of an Alliance between the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult (HVM Catapult) to leverage HVM Catapult’s cross sector experience and world-leading research and development facilities. The MOD and HVM Catapult, with Innovate UK as its sponsoring authority, are working collaboratively on the scope of the Alliance. This includes setting the vision and objectives, identifying opportunities for Defence within existing HVM Catapult programmes, developing a joint roadmap for delivery, and appointing a senior departmental sponsor to lead the work.
Whether he plans to procure additional Ares vehicles beyond the 93 ordered.
There are no current plans to procure additional ARES vehicles beyond the 93 ordered.
How many Afghans who (a) worked for British forces and (b) are dependents of people who worked for British forces were brought to the United Kingdom via the Afghan Response Route.
Approximately 4,500 people have been relocated or are in transit to the UK via the ARR (900 principal applicants and 3,600 eligible family members). ARR eligibility was only granted for those individuals who were previously thought to be at highest risk of targeting by the Taleban as a result of their personal details being included in the February 2022 data incident under the previous Government.. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of relocation figures by job role, including those who worked directly for British Forces, at this time.
How many Commonwealth service-leavers have paid for visa applications for dependents since 5 July 2024.
All applications are submitted to the Home Office. The Ministry of Defence does not hold information about the number of applications submitted by Service personnel on discharge, or by their family members.
What progress the Royal Navy has made on developing the Common Anti-air Modular Missile.
The Common Anti-Air Modular Missile continues to be a cornerstone of Air Defence for both the Royal Navy and the British Army. It remains in service on Type 23 Frigates, with programmes commenced to allow operation on Type 45, Type 26 and Type 31 platforms. Software developments have continued to improve missile performance since its introduction in 2017. A mid-life refresh programme is due to start in 2029 to extend the munitions’ availability to both Services until the late 2040s.
What assessment he has made of the potential merits of launching a defence growth deal in Huntingdon constituency.
On 8 September 2025, five Defence Growth Deals in Plymouth, South Yorkshire, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were announced. Should economic and fiscal conditions allow, the Government will consider launching more Defence Growth Deals across the UK.
What the scope is of Project RECODE.
Project RECODE (Real Time Combat System Open Data Enablers) is a programme to maintain and modernise vital combat management systems and their shared infrastructure and networks, on Royal Navy (RN) vessels including Type 23 frigates, Type 45 destroyers, Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers and Type 26 frigates. Combat management systems are the primary method for RN operators to interact with weapons and sensors and they support functions such as Situation Awareness, Tactical Picture Compilation, Threat Evaluation and Weapon Assignment and Navigation.
What the scope is of Project TELUM.
Project TELUM aims to deliver the successor capability to the services currently provided under the Light Aircraft Flying Task 2 (LAFT2) contract, which is set to expire in March 2030. The LAFT2 contract supports a range of services and flying tasks for Air Cadets, University Air Squadrons, the Royal Navy, the Army, and ad hoc flying training requirements, all of which will be addressed by Project TELUM.
Whether any defence operational developments are eligible for fast-track planning as nationally important Crown Developments in Huntingdon constituency.
There are currently two projects potentially eligible for fast-track planning as nationally important Crown Developments in Huntingdon constituency.
What the scope is of Project CORVUS.
Project CORVUS will procure a new Tactical Uncrewed Air System (TUAS) to deliver the Land Tactical Deep Find (LTDF) capability, essential to enable the Army’s Recce-Strike complex for the Divisional and Corps battles. It will deliver the replacement for the Watchkeeper TUAS and will be fielded by 47 Regiment Royal Artillery. CORVUS will be integrated into the Land ISTAR digital ecosystem and will distribute information to headquarters and artillery fire units via ZODIAC. This will speed up processing times and the Sensor-Decider-Effector chain to greatly enhance the lethality of Land forces.
What progress the Royal Navy has made on Sea Viper Evolution.
Both Sea Viper Evolution Programmes continue to make progress. Capability One, the Royal Navy’s entry level Ballistic Missile Defence Capability, is expected to provide an initial capability from 2027. Capability Two, providing theatre level Ballistic Missile Defence, remains in the Assessment phase to inform future capability and investment choices.
What estimate he has made of the projected contribution of the Tempest Global Combat Air Programme to GDP.
The primary contribution of Defence to GDP is peace and security. There is no sustainable growth without peace, but the contribution GCAP makes to UK peace and security is not amenable to quantitative assessment. GCAP and the wider Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme provide a key element of the UK’s future defence posture. There are over 4,500 people working on the FCAS programme, with GCAP at its core, across the UK. The government is investing over £3 billion and industry has invested over £700 million to co-fund research and development, grow our world-class STEM skills, and develop new digital and industrial capabilities, supporting economic growth.
What progress the Royal Navy has made on developing Maritime Integrated Air and Missile Defence and Strike capability.
Progress has been made through enhancements to Air and Missile Defence and Strike capabilities for the Royal Navy (RN) of today, the effectiveness of which have been demonstrated on operations. These include the fielding of the Naval Strike Missile, Combat Management System upgrades under Project RECODE and continued progress in Laser Directed Energy Weapons. Looking ahead, the Future Air Dominance System (FADS) is a transformative multi-domain Royal Navy programme that will provide Maritime Integrated Air and Missile Defence against the toughest of threats in the air and space domain, and Long-Range Precision Strike against the most difficult targets in air, land, and maritime domains. Work is continuing at pace to identify a preferred approach for the FADS with the RN and teams across defence working together on the operational problem statement and potential architectural solutions.
What steps he has taken to develop the Defence industrial base in order to rapidly scale lower-value and highly attritable autonomous collaborative platforms.
The Ministry of Defence is advancing the defence industrial base for autonomous collaborative platforms through initiatives like the Defence Industrial Strategy, Defence Tech Scaler, and strengthened industry partnerships.Clear strategies, including the RAF Autonomous Collaborative Platforms Strategy and Defence Drone Strategy, set standards, while projects like BriteStorm and StormShroud showcase progress.
What the outcome was of the recent trial by HMS Trent of the Helicopter Visual Landing Aid System.
The recent trials of the Helicopter Visual Landing Aid System (HVLAS) onboard HMS Trent was a success. Three days of rigorous testing through day and night landings by a Wildcat Helicopter has shown the technology to be effective. As a result, we plan to fit HMS Spey, another Batch 2 Offshore Patrol Vessel, with HVALS as she enters scheduled refit.
Pursuant to the Answer of 1 September 2025 to Question 69521 on Ajax Vehicles: Procurement, what will be the distribution of the 93 Ares vehicles across units.
The 93 ARES platforms will be distributed in line with the Army’s fielding plan and Defence priorities.
What progress his Department has made on developing an open-architecture app based combat management system interoperable across (a) the Army, (b) the Royal Navy, (c) the RAF and (d) UK Space Command.
There are several initiatives across Defence that relate to the development of Combat Management System (CMS). Examples of these initiatives are in ASGARD (Army), NEXUS (RAF) and the Digital Targeting Web (DTW - CSOC), though it is worth noting that each has developed and experimented with capabilities that fit specific uses cases that may not be aligned. Defence Digital have had stakeholder input in several of these but have not been solely responsible for any singular app development. Defence Digital is however, responsible for the Digital Backbone, accelerating military and business capabilities, delivering a resilient, multi-classification foundation of seamlessly integrated capabilities. It encourages reusability and enables easy access to data, all of which are managed, supported and battle ready. The mandating of architecture standards to industry and developers across Defence through digital.mod.uk ensures that any apps and services that are leveraged by the Digital Backbone can be integrated and interoperable across those that consume Backbone services.