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 1,941–1,960 of 2,619 · Ministry of Defence
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 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.
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 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 funding his Department provides to BAE Systems' Falconworks programme.
The information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Our Commercial contract accounting tools only detail the BAE Systems operating company names in the contract reporting. It does not include any details of internal business structures, like the Falconworks team, within those operating companies.
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 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 assessment he has made of the potential merits of enhancing machine-speed (a) processing, (b) exploitation and (c) dissemination in order to rapidly transform raw sensor data into actionable intelligence.
The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) outlines the need for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to adopt automation and AI at scale, these capabilities are critical to the delivery of many of the SDR recommendations including the Digital Targeting Web. MOD exploits AI and Automation across the processing, exploitation, and dissemination process with continuous and robust assessments of the performance, reliability, and value of such capabilities. MOD will continue to integrate them in a safe and assured manner to enhance Intelligence and Targeting capability. The MOD is continuing to invest in a unified Digital Backbone designed to connect any sensor, to any effector, and to any decision-maker in real time. This infrastructure underpins a new way of operating and fielding capability, enabling data exploitation at speed and scale. At the core of this transformation is the principle of making data Exploitable by Design, ensuring it is structured, high-quality, and ready for consumption by humans, machines, and AI systems.
What progress he has made on launching new defence growth deals.
New Defence Growth Deals were announced on 8 September 2025 in Plymouth, South Yorkshire, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Working in collaboration with devolved and local Governments, academia and industry, these Deals will bolster regional growth and our national security.
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.
What progress he has made on developing the Royal Navy’s Force Threat Evaluation and Weapon Assignment functionality enabled by Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning.
Force-Level Target Evaluation and Weapon Assignment (FTEWA) is a central part of the Royal Navy’s pivot to a Hybrid Navy, being developed under the Future Air Dominance System (FADS) programme. By networking our mix of crewed and uncrewed platforms together we will be able to use the optimum weapon from across the networked force to deal with each threat. Machine Learning, and eventually full AI, will be a key part of this functionality and be used in the generation of a single force level situational awareness view, the generation of a threat evaluation list and the recommendation of the optimum weapon to deal with each threat. This will allow operators to make the best decision in time to deal with each threat. FTEWA is in concept phase with the various building blocks described above being developed in parallel.
How many days were lost to sickness absence by civil servants in their Department (a) in total and (b) on average per employee between 5 July 2024 and 4 July 2025.
Between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025, a total of 360,823 working days were lost to sickness absence across the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) civilian workforce, an average of 6.65 days per employee. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA)’s data is collected separately. For the RFA in this period, a total of 18,338.5 24-hour days were lost to sickness absence, an average of 11 days per employee. MOD civil servant sickness absence statistics are published by the Cabinet Office on an annual basis at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence
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 Royal Navy’s Mine Hunting Capability Block 1 operational capability is.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer gived on 23 July 2025 to Question 68744 to the hon. Member for Romford (Mr Rosindell).https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-07-17/68744
With reference to his interview with the BBC on 15 August 2025 regarding a potential post-ceasefire UK military presence in Ukraine, which UK forces would be deployed to the region; and which are ready to act from day one.
As a matter of longstanding policy we do not publicly comment on the readiness levels of His Majesty's Armed Forces. This is to safeguard operational security, and that of our Service people. Planning continues to progress at pace through the UK-French led Coalition of the Willing, including at the Defence Minister and Leader-level meetings last week. The UK will continue stepping up to support Ukraine and work with our allies to secure a just and lasting peace.
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 assessment he has made of the potential impact of the United States Navy’s Modular Autonomous Surface Craft programme on future (a) Royal Navy fleet operations and (b) US Navy interoperability.
The Royal Navy is working at pace to understand the implications of the Modular Autonomous Surface Craft programme. The developing plan indicates that the Future Navy will require a mixed force of crewed and uncrewed vessels, and distributed commando teams, each carrying modular, reconfigurable technology to defeat threats above, on, and beneath the waves and ashore.The Royal Navy and US Navy have a close working relationship within the 'Delivering Combined Seapower' framework and these close links ensure that both forces continue to progress their improved interoperability. Our combined work on NATO capability initiatives likewise ensures future interoperability with other Allied Navies.
What assessment he has made of trends in the level of growth potential in defence-related industries in Huntingdon constituency.
The Ministry of Defence is committed to ensuring defence is an engine for growth. However, we have made no assessment of growth potential in defence-related industries in Huntingdon constituency specifically. The Defence Industrial Strategy published on 8 September 2025 clearly set out how we are making defence an engine for growth - investing more money in key defence areas and regions across the UK to create good jobs.
What estimate he has made of the number of jobs the Tempest Global Combat Air Programme will create.
There are over 4,500 people working on the Future Combat Air System programme across the UK. At the core of the programme is the trilateral Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) partnership between the UK, Japan and Italy to deliver a next-generation combat aircraft. We expect GCAP to support thousands of jobs across all three nations.