Ministry of Defence

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is supporting the Home Office in the generation of additional asylum accommodation to reduce the use of hotels. The MOD takes its duty of care to service families seriously and supporting the families of those who serve is of the utmost importance. A Royal Military Police presence has been temporarily introduced at Cameron Barracks to reassure military personnel and families onsite. No other additional personnel have been deployed alongside this presence.

Ministerial meetings with external organisations and the purpose of these meetings are reported quarterly online on GOV.UK.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) takes the proper use of public funds and compliance with international law extremely seriously. All contracts with Palantir are governed by strict commercial, legal and security controls to ensure that United Kingdom (UK) funding is used only for authorised Defence purposes. Robust oversight mechanisms, including due diligence, conflict-of interest checks and ongoing supplier governance ensure full compliance with our legal obligations and provide assurance that no public funds support any activity connected to violations of international law.

The MOD applies strict legal, ethical and security checks before awarding any contract. As part of this process, we consider whether a supplier’s wider activities raise concerns, including any allegation of involvement in operations that could breach International Humanitarian Law. Where risks are identified, additional assurance and contractual controls are applied to ensure MOD capabilities are used only for lawful, authorised purposes under UK direction.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) takes the proper use of public funds and compliance with international law extremely seriously. All contracts with Palantir are governed by strict commercial, legal and security controls to ensure that United Kingdom (UK) funding is used only for authorised Defence purposes. Robust oversight mechanisms, including due diligence, conflict-of interest checks and ongoing supplier governance ensure full compliance with our legal obligations and provide assurance that no public funds support any activity connected to violations of international law.

The MOD applies strict legal, ethical and security checks before awarding any contract. As part of this process, we consider whether a supplier’s wider activities raise concerns, including any allegation of involvement in operations that could breach International Humanitarian Law. Where risks are identified, additional assurance and contractual controls are applied to ensure MOD capabilities are used only for lawful, authorised purposes under UK direction.

Palantir is used across a range of Defence data‑analytics and integration activities, with deployment decided by individual Delivery Teams rather than tied to a single defined list of projects or programmes. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not routinely publish a list of all individual projects or programmes using specific software platforms. However, all use of Palantir is governed by strict contractual controls ensuring United Kingdom Defence data remains sovereign and under MOD direction at all times.

Capability Drop 3 is the minimum operationally deployable capability drop, with deployability being subject to decisions based on the safety reviews.

A plan to replace these aircraft will be detailed in the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan. All elements of this work, including the aircraft replacement, are progressing together. All decisions on future procurements will be made as part of the Defence Investment Plan.

A plan to replace these aircraft will be detailed in the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan. All elements of this work, including the aircraft replacement, are progressing together. All decisions on future procurements will be made as part of the Defence Investment Plan.

The Army’s Watchkeeper Mk 1 Uncrewed Aerial System was due to be retired from service from March 2025 but will now remain in service until March 2027 to allow for the delivery of its replacement capability, Project CORVUS.

The cost of keeping the Watchkeeper programme in service for the additional two-year period is currently anticipated to be £ 95,659,000.

Elements of Project Lily are being reviewed to determine whether any aspects can be incorporated into other programmes. It would not be appropriate to provide further detail at this stage, as doing so could prejudice the Department’s commercial interests and any future procurement activity.

As the hon. Member will recall from his time as a Defence Minister. The Ministry of Defence does not routinely publish out-of-service dates for individual Royal Navy vessels.

The precise out-of-service date will be determined through balancing operational requirements, maintenance schedules, and transition to modern and world leading capabilities introduced with the Type 26 and Type 31 Frigates entering service.

HMS ALBION is currently moored at HMNB Devonport and is being retained to support the generation of HMS BULWARK prior to her sale to Brazil. No plans for HMS ALBION’s disposal have been confirmed.

HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark were tied up by the last government with no intention to send them to sea again before their out of service dates in the 2030s.

The annual maintenance cost for HMS ALBION is circa £2 million per annum. This expenditure is to ensure that the ship remains safe whilst alongside HMNB Devonport on a tidal mooring. This ensures the ship remains compliant with environmental and safety legislation until disposal is complete.

HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark were tied up by the last government with no intention to send them to sea again before their out of service dates in the 2030s.

The Maritime Fighting Web (MFW) is not a single system or platform but a long‑term programme of digital modernisation. Subject to the Defence Investment Plan, the MFW will deliver the maritime component of the Digital Targeting Web, enabling the Royal Navy to sense, understand, decide, and deliver effects at pace across the Hybrid Navy.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 February 2026 to the hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mark Francois) to Question 108597.

Under Project BRAKESTOP, 11 contracts have been placed covering development and production of prototype effectors, a bespoke warhead, test ranges, and other ancillary services such as transportation and storage.

Project Lily was cancelled following an internal review. Further detail cannot be provided as it could prejudice the Department's commercial interests and any future procurement activity.

The Defence Housing Strategy sets out our vision for military housing across the UK, including the Devolved Nations.

The Defence Housing Service will deliver the recommendations of our new Defence Housing Strategy which is backed by £9 billion of investment to build, renew and repair 9 in 10 defence family homes, harnessing the opportunities created by our landmark deal which brought 36,000 properties into public ownership.

We have transformed 1,000 of the worst homes ahead of schedule in time for Christmas, with hundreds more military properties to be upgraded by Spring 2026. Over 50 of these homes were in Scotland.

A new demand and supply forecasting model will ensure that the future needs of the Armed Forces are more accurately planned for, enabling us to deliver housing in the right places to support military operations and reducing the number of homes that lie empty.

The Defence Secretary, John Healey MP visited Helensburgh in January 2026 to mark the impact the new Armed Forces Bill will have on Scottish personnel and their families, including those in Kinloss and Victoria Barracks. Whilst in Scotland, he saw first-hand the rapid improvement works that were completed for over 50 military families in Helensburgh in time for Christmas last year and work underway for a further 170 homes which will be completed this year.

We continue to drive for both improved performance and increased value for money from the Accommodation Industry Partners who are responsible for the maintenance of Service Family Accommodation. Performance is monitored on a monthly basis including oversight at Chief Executive level and through a series of regular reviews, including external audits.

We take the safety and security of our personnel, assets and operations extremely seriously. We maintain multi-layered security measures, including counter-drone capabilities which can identify and facilitate the capture of drones.

Clause 4 of the Armed Forces Bill 26 Defence will provide a regime allowing a Defence authorisation to use authorised equipment to detect and prevent offences being committed by drones against Defence Areas or Defence Property.

We remain committed to maintaining the highest standards of security and will continue to assess, adapt and respond to all threats, including those from drones, to safeguard our national defence capabilities.

Flying training will continue to be a sovereign priority. All future platform procurements will be made as part of the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan.

The Ministry of Defence does not routinely disclose the financial details or payment structures of bilateral defence sales, including the transfer of HMS Enterprise to the Bangladesh Government, due to commercial and operational sensitivities.

It would not be appropriate to comment on the specific detail around each Capability Drop due to operational sensitivities.

The Army routinely assesses which vehicles are most appropriate to meet specific capability requirements.

The base platform of the Philippines Army’s Sabrah Light Tank is the ASCOD 2 chassis. At present, the British Army has no requirement for a light tank capability. However, it continues to monitor employment of such systems, alongside broader global developments in armoured fighting vehicles.

The Spanish Army’s VCZAP Castor is the combat engineering variant of the ASCOD 2 chassis. Under the Armoured Cavalry programme, the Army is introducing the ARGUS variant of the Ajax family, which will deliver an advanced engineer reconnaissance function. Together with the existing Trojan and Terrier platforms, ARGUS will provide the Army with a comprehensive suite of combat engineering capabilities.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) let the Palantir Enterprise Agreement contract in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023. The contract was direct awarded under the justifications outlined in Section 41, Schedule 5.The Direct award justifications were as follows:

- Paragraph 6:

o The following conditions are met in relation to the public contract—

(a)due to an absence of competition for technical reasons, only a particular supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and

(b)there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works.

- Paragraph 7:

o The public contract concerns the supply of goods, services or works by the existing supplier which are intended as an extension to, or partial replacement of, existing goods, services or works in circumstances where—

(a)a change in supplier would result in the contracting authority receiving goods, services or works that are different from, or incompatible with, the existing goods, services or works, and

(b)the difference or incompatibility would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation or maintenance.

The MOD can confirm that no Ministers and former officials with prior links to Palantir were involved at any stage of that process. The decision to award this contract was the Secretary of State for Defence’s.

The MOD conducts continuous conflict-of-interest assessments for all individuals involved in commercial activity of any manner.

The MOD conducts comprehensive due diligence upon the notification of any business appointments that may lead to concern. MOD holds a Business Appointments Policy under JSP 492 that outlines the processes and guidelines for assessing these situations. Should an appointment create a concern MOD can place conditions upon that individual that can include:

- Restricting the sharing of information

- Prohibition of lobbying for a set period of time

- Restrictions on advising on ongoing commercial activity

- Seeking clearance of ongoing commissions

The conditions and associated timeframes for them are set based upon the seniority of the individual involved and the nature of the appointment. MOD continues to work diligently to ensure this is appropriately managed and enforced.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) conducts continuous conflict-of-interest assessments for all individuals involved in commercial activity of any manner.

In addition, the MOD conducts comprehensive due diligence upon the notification of any business appointments that may lead to concern. MOD holds a Business Appointments Policy under JSP 492 that outlines the processes and guidelines for assessing these situations. Should an appointment create a concern the MOD can place conditions upon that individual that can include:

- Restricting the sharing of information

- Prohibition of lobbying for a set period of time

- Restrictions on advising on ongoing commercial activity

- Seeking clearance of ongoing commissions

The conditions and associated timeframes for them are set based upon the seniority of the individual involved and the nature of the appointment.

STS Aviation based at Birmingham airport are under contract from Boeing to undertake initial conversion of the first two USAF E-7 Wedgetail aircraft.

All platform choice decisions will be made as part of the Defence Investment Plan.

Progress is being made on the Type 31 (T31) programme, with a substantial investment made in Babcock's facilities at Rosyth. This includes digitising the shipyard, new manufacturing facilities and a new purpose-built Assembly Hall that enables two T31s to be built simultaneously. In addition, there has been the generation of a Shore Integration facility at Portsdown Technology Park, to mitigate risks to the integration of the combat system.

The Ministry of Defence continues to work closely with Babcock, the prime contractor, to ensure the T31 programme meets all user requirements to deliver a maritime security capability at a value for money price, in a timescale that is competitive with other international warship procurement programmes.

On 5 February the Ministry of Defence announced that, as part of the Defence Industrial Strategy skills package, it is directly investing £80 million into the Higher Education sector to increase the capacity on key defence-related courses and invest in new facilities and cutting-edge technology to ensure we have the skilled workforce the sector requires in the future.

This funding will be distributed by the Office for Students (OfS) as part of a Strategic Priorities Grant competition which all eligible Higher Education institutions in England will be able to apply for. OfS are an independent body running a fair and transparent competition. The competition opened on the 12 February with competition guidance published on their website. We welcome applications from colleges and universities across England including in Essex.

On 5 February the Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced that, as part of the Defence Industrial Strategy skills package, it is directly investing £80 million into the Higher Education sector to increase the capacity on key defence-related courses and invest in new facilities and cutting-edge technology to ensure we have the skilled workforce the sector requires in the future.

This funding will be distributed by the Office for Students (OfS) as part of a Strategic Priorities Grant competition which all eligible Higher Education institutions in England will be able to apply for. We have worked with the OfS to help shape the competition criteria to ensure that institutions receiving this funding will be networked into the defence industry and wider sector and are able to support students to consider a career in the defence industry.

The OfS will monitor the institutions and the specific projects that receive this funding and we are working with them to ensure that this monitoring aligns with the MOD’s strategic aims for this funding.

The Defence Universities Alliance was announced as part of the Defence Industrial Strategy in September 2025 to create a strategic network of UK universities who are publicly committed to partnering with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the defence industrial sector.

It aims to advance high quality defence research, encourage more skilled graduates to consider careers within the defence sector and strengthen and promote the partnership between the MOD, academia and defence industry. We are in the process of establishing the Alliance and will work with its founding members to establish a baseline and measure its success. Further details will be announced in due course.

The Ministry of Defence has recently published the Defence Housing Strategy which sets out a vision for the future transformation of military homes; 90% of military homes will be upgraded, renewed or rebuilt, through a record £9 billion investment over a decade.

The table below details the number of urgent repairs for Service Family Accommodation, including the reasons for these requests, during the period 20 December 2025 to 1 January 2026.

The Ministry of Defence has recently published the Defence Housing Strategy which sets out a vision for the future transformation of military homes; 90% of military homes will be upgraded, renewed or rebuilt, through a record £9 billion investment over a decade.

The table below details the number of urgent repairs for Service Family Accommodation, including the reasons for these requests, during the period 20 December 2025 to 1 January 2026.

All twenty-two Atlas C1 aircrafts can be fitted with the Static Line delivery system for deploying parachute infantry at scale in a low-level static line configuration. They can also employ specialist military freefall parachuting and air dispatch of associated equipment.

Officer training in the UK Armed Forces is accessible to any UK citizen who meets the academic, aptitude, physical and medical requirements, irrespective of the candidate’s social background or type of education.

Of the intake to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (Army) who are due to commission on 10 April 2026, 37% were independently educated. No other information in scope of these questions is held by the single Services.

Officer training in the UK Armed Forces is accessible to any UK citizen who meets the academic, aptitude, physical and medical requirements, irrespective of the candidate’s social background or type of education.

Of the intake to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (Army) who are due to commission on 10 April 2026, 37% were independently educated. No other information in scope of these questions is held by the single Services.

The number of days in which Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon aircraft launched in 2025 is six.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) already offers Serving Personnel, and Veterans in receipt of a pension, the opportunity to save with our three credit unions (https://www.joiningforcescu.co.uk/) via payroll deduction administered by Defence Business Services. MOD Civil Servants and Veterans without a pension can save with those same credit unions using Direct Debit.

When an individual leaves the Armed Forces, Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the importance of facilitating the transfer of healthcare information to their civilian healthcare provider(s).

On leaving Defence Medical Services (DMS) care, Service personnel are provided with a medical care summary, known as an FMed133, and advised to register with an NHS GP and provide them a copy of their FMED 133.

If a patient’s full DMS health record is required, this is provided on request to their NHS GP. Given this and that some records are never requested, no accurate estimate can be made of the average time from discharge to the receipt of the medical records by the NHS GP.

To improve the transfer of healthcare information, DMS is working towards the greater interoperability with NHS systems and the electronic transfer of medical records from DMS to NHS GPs.

Under Programme CORTISONE, the MOD has awarded a £7.8 million contract to Leeds software company, The Phoenix Partnership, to provide a modern electronic healthcare records system for the Armed Forces. This will digitalise military medical records and integrate MOD systems with the NHS, with roll out scheduled for 2027.

All decisions on capabilities will be taken in the Defence Investment Plan.

I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

All personnel being discharged from the Armed Forces should receive a Structured Mental Health Assessment (SMHA). The primary intent of the SMHA is to identify any unmet or unaddressed mental health needs prior to discharge.

The following table provides the numbers of UK Armed Forces personnel provided with a SMHA within 120 days of their release medical, by year from 1 January 2015 - 30 September 2025.

* The number of SMHAs that took place between 1 January 2025 and 30 September 2025 to allow for a 120 day follow up period for completion.

Armed Forces personnel being discharged from service who are already under the care of specialist mental health services should have an SMHA completed, however, in some cases this may not be necessary where the individual’s needs are already being met through those specialist services.

Indeed, the Secretary of State has been in Norway in the past few days. The Secretary of State engages routinely with his Norwegian counterpart as part of the evolving UK-Norway strategic defence partnership.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) uses its capability planning and decision‑making processes to balance a range of factors and ensure resources are used effectively.

All financial decisions are accounted for in the MOD Annual Report and Accounts.