Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

What progress his Department has made in identifying a vehicle on which to mount the Short-Range Air Defence missile system.

As announced at the Defence and Security International (DSEI) conference 2025, the British Army has joined the Common Armoured Vehicle System (CAVS) Programme, a multinational initiative with Finland, centred around the Patria 6x6 armoured vehicle. The Patria CAVS 6x6 armoured vehicle is being considered as the single common base platform which will deliver the British Army’s mounted Short Range Air Defence missile system, as well as a breadth of Heavy Protected Mobility requirements.

What progress has he made in converting the stockpile of Aster-15 missiles to the Aster-30 variant.

The Aster Mid-Life Refresh programme commenced this year with the refurbishment of Aster 30 missiles. A value for money assessment is underway to determine whether to convert the remaining stockpile of Aster 15 missiles into Aster 30s. If that option is taken forward, it would begin after the refurbishment of the Aster 30s has been completed in 2029.

With reference to page 134 of his Department's Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 2 June 2025, what progress he has made in attracting private capital to invest in housing developments on Ministry of Defence land.

The Defence Housing Strategy will set out the roadmap for how the Department will deliver a national regeneration programme for the Service Family Accommodation estate and deliver more housing of all types on Defence land identified as suitable for development. It is due to be published later this year.

Which armoured fighting vehicle is part of the Mechanised Infantry Programme.

As published on the British Army website, Boxer is the Armoured Fighting Vehicle being delivered through the Mechanised Infantry Programme. https://www.army.mod.uk/learn-and-explore/equipment/combat-vehicles/boxer/

With reference to page 23 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, what steps the military is taking to help support the UK’s scientific presence in the British Antarctic Territory.

Defence plays an important role in safeguarding UK interests in Antarctica, including the British Antarctic Territory and supporting UK roles and responsibilities to the Antarctic Treaty. The Royal Navy’s Ice Patrol Ship, HMS PROTECTOR, routinely deploys to the Antarctic Peninsula. Activities include: undertaking hydrographic surveys to improve the safety of navigation; facilitating inspections under the Antarctic Treaty; and assistance to the British Antarctic Survey and UK Antarctic Heritage Trust. RAF transport aircraft periodically deliver logistics to British Antarctic Survey through airdrops. The MOD is supporting the FCDO’s work to publish a UK Antarctic strategy by the end of the year, which will set the Government’s aims and ambitions for Antarctica for the next 10 years.

With reference to page 105 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, updated on 8 July 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of littoral strike by the Royal Navy on NATO regional plans.

The Royal Navy's Littoral Strike capabilities are aligned with NATO's strategic objectives. These capabilities enhance the UK's ability to contribute to NATO operations, particularly in contested and strategically significant regions, and they support the Alliance's goals of deterrence, crisis response, and operational readiness. The UK operates Littoral Response Groups (LRGs), which are part of the Littoral Strike concept, as forward-deployed amphibious forces capable of operating independently or as part of a larger joint force. These groups are designed to deliver defence engagement, maritime security operations, and hybrid warfare operations, as well as to support NATO operations including regional plans, which are routinely reviewed by the NATO Joint Force Command.

With reference to page 120 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what progress he has made on educating personnel on the risk of cyber-attack via Defence Digital.

The Strategic Defence Review 2025 recognised the importance of educating personnel on how they can protect the Department from cyber-attack. Since 2020 the Ministry of Defence has implemented a blended approach to this challenge, including formal training, supported with a thematic awareness campaign designed to develop and embed good cyber security behaviours across the entire workforce.

With reference to page 110 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Army’s contribution to the (a) planning, (b) preparation and (c) delivery of defence support to domestic resilience if it were mobilised for war.

The Army, Royal Navy and RAF all continuously contribute to national resilience and would do so in a time of war. At present personnel are held at very high readiness to respond to domestic crises, and have formed the backbone of domestic resilience efforts over the past several years, including during Covid. The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and National Security Strategy highlighted the importance of domestic resilience in a time a crisis. Working closely with the Cabinet Office-led Home Defence Programme, we are developing plans and policies in a range of Home Defence related areas, taking the spirit and recommendations of the SDR and applying that to the whole range of policy areas that flow from it, including support to domestic resilience planning and preparation.

What recent progress he has made on implementing the Submarine Waterfront Infrastructure Future project.

The Submarine Waterfront Infrastructure Future (SWIF) programme will provide facilities to locations such as Devenport that include a new non-tidal maintenance berth in 5 Basin, a refurbished 10 Dock, and supporting buildings and services. Significant planning has been undertaken in preparation for build, including working with the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and de-risking the site for construction. The construction phase of the berth has commenced, with the excavation of more than 18,000 cubic metres of material, which will form the 280-metre-long tunnel that will carry electrical, water, communications and air services vital to the nuclear safety and maintenance of berthed submarines. The berth wall will be formed from a series of precast concrete reinforced sections secured by rock anchor to provide the required stability; as a precursor to this work four trial anchors are currently under construction. Progress against 10 dock refurbishment includes trial build activity and the fabrication of a dockyard concrete batching plant, which will support the pace required during main dock construction. Significant volumes of concrete were also poured in the Spring this year, the biggest single pour in 20 years at the dockyard, to form the base of the caisson which seals the dock. The next phase of caisson construction activity is due to commence in the coming days.

If he will set out the remaining (a) scope and (b) cost to completion for the MENSA programme.

The MENSA programme continues to make progress and is nearing the end of its construction and commissioning stage. As set out in the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority Annual Report 2024-25, the latest cost estimate to deliver the programme is £2.9 billion.

With reference to page 101 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 8 July 2025, what progress he has made on establishing a nuclear fuels programme.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 September 2025 to Question 74105.

What maritime autonomous systems are within the scope of the Mine Hunting Capability programme.

The Mine Hunting Capability (MHC) programme continues to deliver an advanced suite of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) into service within the Royal Navy, enabling frontline mine warfare specialists to enhance operational effectiveness. These cutting-edge autonomous mine-hunting systems are deployed by the Mine and Threat Exploitation Group for evaluation, training, and operational deployment. The comprehensive scope of the MHC programme encompasses multiple USVs, UUVs, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) for identification and neutralisation, and a state-of-the-art, sovereign mine-sweeping capability. Additionally, the programme has delivered HMS STIRLING CASTLE, a dedicated support vessel designed to enhance the deployment and sustainment of autonomous systems.

With reference to page 128 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what progress he has made on breaking down barriers to collaboration with partners across government.

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 page 122 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what progress he has made on shaping the CyberEM domain to be led in a similar way to UK Space Command.

The design and implementation planning process is well underway. The 4 star Cyber and Specialist Operations Command (CSOC) was officially launched on 1 September 2025. The 2 star Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Force, previously referred to as the CyberEM Command, which operates within CSOC, is set to be established by the end of the year. The design team has visited UK Space Command to ensure that their lessons and best practice have been incorporated and will continue to share best practice during the design and implementation phase.

With reference to page 120 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what the future structure of the Army’s Cyber and Electromagnetic Effects Group will be.

The Department is committed to implementing the recommendations of the Strategic Defence Review, including those involving the Cyber and Electromagnetic Domain (CyberEM) Force design work on the Army’s CyberEM Effects Group is ongoing. Until this work is fully complete, there are no changes to the current CyberEM structure.

With reference to page 105 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, updated on 8 July 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Type 45 destroyers on NATO regional plans.

Type 45 destroyers are central to the UK's integrated air and missile defence strategy, and they have actively contributed to NATO operations through Carrier Strike Group deployments and singleton deployments with Standing Naval Maritime Groups. Upgrades to the Type 45s will serve to enhance the UK's preparedness against advancing and proliferating threats, further demonstrating the UK's commitment to NATO's deterrence and defence.

What capability the UK contributes to the DIAMOND initiative.

Since the signing of the ‘Delivering Integrated Air and Missile Operational Networked Defences’ (DIAMOND) Letter of Intent in Autumn 2024, the UK has led work with the participating nations to agree the focus of the initiative. To complement related NATO-led activity, such as the Modular Ground Based Air Defence High Visibility Project, DIAMOND will consider procedural solutions to enable Day ‘Zero’ air defence integration and interoperability amongst NATO Allied forces. Through this initiative, the UK seeks to draw on and deepen our long existing partnerships with allies and industry to improve the Surface Based Integrated Air and Missile Defence of Europe. At the beginning of October, we met with participating nations and agreed plans to explore the development of joint synthetic exercise opportunities and a shared understanding of command and control links. The workshops are set to take place before the end of 2025.

What progress he has made on making improvements to NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence via the DIAMOND initiative.

Since the signing of the ‘Delivering Integrated Air and Missile Operational Networked Defences’ (DIAMOND) Letter of Intent in Autumn 2024, the UK has led work with the participating nations to agree the focus of the initiative. To complement related NATO-led activity, such as the Modular Ground Based Air Defence High Visibility Project, DIAMOND will consider procedural solutions to enable Day ‘Zero’ air defence integration and interoperability amongst NATO Allied forces. Through this initiative, the UK seeks to draw on and deepen our long existing partnerships with allies and industry to improve the Surface Based Integrated Air and Missile Defence of Europe. At the beginning of October, we met with participating nations and agreed plans to explore the development of joint synthetic exercise opportunities and a shared understanding of command and control links. The workshops are set to take place before the end of 2025.

With reference to page 131 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, updated on 8 July 2025, what progress he has made in ensuring that Defence Medical Services force elements held at readiness can be integrated into the Defence Medical Enterprise.

A key recommendation of the Strategic Defence Review is rebuilding medical capacity and capability, together with the NHS, to ensure our Armed Forces remain fighting fit in peacetime and are prepared to meet operational demands when at war. With allies, through the NATO Medical Action Plan we are focused on addressing priority challenges in workforce; mass casualty planning; patient evacuation; and medical logistics. We will look to address legislative and regulatory barriers to effective care. The Defence Investment Plan will set out how the Ministry of Defence and will deliver the vision of the Strategic Defence Review over the next 10 years, including to ensure that the Defence Medical Services and the NHS together have capacity to meet Defence medical needs, including in the most extreme circumstances.

With reference to recommendation 58 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, updated on 8 July 2025, what progress he has made in establishing a ten-year physical infrastructure plan for Defence medical.

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.