Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

What is the out-of-service date of the 105mm light gun.

On current plans, the Out of Service Date for L118 105 mm Light Gun is 2030.

Pursuant to the answer of 11th December 2025 to question 90800 on F-35 Aircraft: Procurement, what assessment has he made of the potential impact of the time taken to ensure that the programme has the required numbers of engineers on the ability to maintain the F-35 fleet.

The Department is taking measures to improve the recruitment and retention of engineers, whilst also increasing the number of engineers on the F-35 Lightning Force to improve availability.

Pursuant to the answer of 11th December 2025 to question 90800 on F-35 Aircraft: Procurement, what is the total size of the remuneration package for the RAF Engineers Financial Retention Incentive.

The total remuneration package for the RAF Engineers Financial Retention Incentive is approximately £113.5 million.

What information he holds on the number of British-qualified judges sit on the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal publishes the names of its non-permanent judges on its website.The list is available at https://www.hkcfa.hk/en/about/who/judges/npjs/index.html.

What amphibious vessels are available to the a) Royal Navy and b) Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

As a matter of policy, the Department does not comment on the detailed readiness or availability of individual ships.

What steps she plans to take to help tackle the use of end-to-end encryption in proliferating indecent images of children.

The implementation of E2EE without safety mitigations has catastrophic consequences. In 2024, tech companies reported 7 million fewer incidents of suspected child sexual abuse exploitation to NCMEC compared to 2023. This decline is linked to reduced detection capabilities due to E2EE and platform design choices. Offenders deliberately migrate to encrypted platforms to evade detection, using E2EE as a safe haven for grooming, sextortion, and CSAM distribution.Technology exists to detect and prevent the abhorrent abuse of children, including in end-to-end encryption (E2EE). Platform design cannot be used as an excuse to avoid detection and reporting obligations. Under the Online Safety Act, in-scope services must assess and act on risks regardless of their technical architecture – including the risk of child sexual exploitation and abuse on public and private parts of their service. Section 121 of the Act gives Ofcom the power to issue a Technology Notice requiring a service to deploy accredited technology – or use best endeavours to develop or source technology – to detect and remove child sexual exploitation and abuse across public and private parts of the service, including encrypted environments, where necessary and proportionate. Where companies fail to protect users, the regulator, Ofcom, can issue fines of up to £18 million or 10% of a company's global revenue, whichever is greater.The Government announced further work to protect children from sexual abuse online in the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy. Government will work constructively with companies to make it impossible for children in the UK to take, share or view a nude image. This is about prevention. Preventing the harm from happening in the first place whilst avoiding the need for data collection, data sharing or reporting. The technology exists. Now the government wants to work with tech companies to go further.

By when will the first phase of the Light Mobility Vehicle Project be completed.

The Light Mobility Vehicle (LMV) sub programme is in its Concept Phase. On current plans, formal market engagement will commence in early 2026.

What steps he is taking to prevent industrial action from Royal Fleet Auxiliary a) ratings and b) officers.

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a vital element of Defence, enabling the ability to deliver operational effect in conjunction with our allies around the world. We continue to engage constructively with the trade unions which represent RFA ratings and officers. It would not be appropriate to offer more detail of these engagements as discussions are ongoing.

What discussions she has had with the Mayor of London on the potential impact of the cost of the Piccadilly Line renovation on TfL's finances.

Government announced a £2.2bn investment over the next four years for TfL at the Spending Review. This multi-year settlement marks the largest Government capital contribution to London's transport infrastructure in over a decade and is in addition to £485m delivered at the Budget in 2024. As transport in London is devolved to the Mayor of London, it is for him and TfL to assess the merits and financial impacts of capital projects and make decisions on investment including upgrades to the Piccadilly Line.

What project milestone was achieved by General Dynamics on 23 July 2025.

All criteria for Ajax Initial Operating Capability (IOC) were met on 23 July 2025 and following a period of review, IOC was declared by the Army on 15 September 2025. I have put in place a Ministerial led review into the Ajax programme, which will assess how effective the Department has been at implementing the actions of previous reviews, and seeking anything further that is required regarding safety. It will be conducted by experts who are not part of the AJAX programme, including Malcolm Chalmers, to provide a more independent view. It will be overseen by me and report to the Defence Secretary. It will be conducted at pace, but it will not be rushed.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 49537 on Mayors: Disqualification, whether a criminal conviction for an imprisonable offence would disqualify a person from being appointed as a metro mayor in (a) London, (b) outside London and (c) where the mayoralty will have the police and crime commissioner responsibilities included within it.

The answer given to the hon. Member in Question UIN 49537 on 30 April 2025 provides the current disqualifications for being convicted of an imprisonable offence for mayors - this applies to metro mayors in and outside of London.

What is the planned deadline for commencing the manufacturing phase of Challenger 3.

Challenger 3 is currently undergoing demonstration phase trials to prove the performance of the tanks. Manufacturing will begin once the tank's performance is proven, rather than being tied to a specific deadline. The project team will review the timeline regularly to ensure alignment with delivery milestones, operational needs, and emerging technical risks.

How many soldiers were hospitalised or received hearing-related injuries in relation to the Ajax programme since 23 July 2025.

Since 23 July 2025, centrally held electronic systems show fewer than five personnel have had a hospital admission recorded since their first use of Ajax. None of these were related to Ajax, hearing or vibration. In the same period, 27 personnel have had a hearing loss related read code entered into their electronic medical record since their first use of Ajax. However, the presence of read code does not imply either a long-term problem or that it has been caused by their use of Ajax. For any Service person their use of Ajax will be mixed with other potential sources of exposure. It is also possible that symptoms are not occupationally related.

How many a) FV432 and b) FV433 vehicles are currently in service with the British Army, broken down by variant.

There are zero FV432 or FV433 vehicles in service with the British Army. None of the FV430 series of vehicles remain in service. These were modified under an Urgent Operational Requirement for operations in Iraq and subsequently re-designated as ‘BULLDOG’.

How many Chinese BYD electric buses are in service across the UK by franchise operator.

My Department does not hold this information. For information on how many electric BYD buses have been licensed overall, please see the DVLA statistics – table VEH0133. (Vehicle licensing statistics data tables – GOV.UK)

How many vehicles have been purchased under the Boxer programme by variant.

623 vehicles have been contracted under the Mechanised Infantry Boxer Programme. The table below shows the breakdown by variant: VariantQuantity PurchasedInfantry Carrier146Specialist Carrier200Command212Ambulance65

What discussions his Department has had with (a) General Dynamics, (b) the Senior Responsible Officer and (c) the British Army on the Ajax programme since 23 July 2025.

Since the incident during Exercise Titan Storm last month, I have been having regular discussions with key stakeholders from the Army and Ajax Programme team, and I met with General Dynamics on 9 December 2025. I have provided further details to the House via two Written Ministerial Statements and an Urgent Question reply in addition.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of procuring the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System.

The Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS), has been considered as part of a suite of systems available for the AH-64E weapons load, providing the platform flexibility to engage a range of targets with a measured effect.The procurement for UK AH-64E is ongoing with the capability due to be integrated and introduced on UK AH-64E by 2027. The potential for use on other platforms remains under review and no final procurement decisions have been made for these.

What the full scope is of Project Nightfall.

The scope of Project NIGHTFALL is to rapidly develop and produce, at scale, tactical ballistic missiles with a range of at least 500km, alongside associated mobile launchers.

What assessment has he made of the a) feasibility and b) potential merits of extending the out-of-service date of Warrior beyond 2027.

There are no plans to extend the out-of-service date for Warrior beyond 2027, and as such an extension is not under consideration. The focus remains on achieving the Strategic Defence Review's vision for a tenfold increase in British Army lethality over the next decade, with survivable and lethal platforms, such as armoured fighting vehicles, playing a central role alongside new layered systems of attritable and consumable platforms.