Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 2.6 of the report entitled The UK’s F-35 capability, HC 989, published by the National Audit Office on 11 July 2025, what steps are being taken to address personnel shortfalls within the F‑35 programme.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We inherited a retention and recruitment crisis from the last Government and are determined to fix it.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has introduced a programme of surging recruitment for the RAF so that it returns to workforce balance across every specialisation.
This activity includes a significant focus on the engineer profession where, over the last two years, the RAF has offered joining bonuses and increased the capacity of Technical Training Schools to enable more recruits to be trained.
To improve retention, the RAF has implemented a Financial Retention Incentive for engineers.
The recruitment and retention of personnel remains one of the top two priorities for the Chief of the Defence Staff.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 22 of the report entitled The UK’s F-35 capability, HC 989, published by the National Audit Office on 11 July 2025, if he will set out the updated estimate of the whole‑life cost of the (a) equipment, (b) personnel, (c) infrastructure, (d) fuel, (e) ammunition and (f) total cost of the F‑35 programme.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The F-35 programme reports costs to the Departments and National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) policy as a Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP). My Department will address the Public Accounts Committee recommendations in the formal Government response to the Committee in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the use of GPS-enabled smart watches on the security of UK defence sites.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence has strict rules governing where smart devices, including GPS-enabled smart watches, can and cannot be used. We do not comment on the detail of those measures.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the US government shutdown on joint UK–US defence (a) projects and (b) research collaboration.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
There has been no impact on our defence projects or research collaboration where we have continued to engage with those essential US staff who continued to work during the shutdown.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with (a) private and (b) allied training providers on increasing pilot training capacity.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Air Force (RAF) Directorate of Flying Training continues to engage on a regular basis with private and allied training providers regarding pilot training capacity.
There have been recent discussions with private training providers, in line with the Strategic Defence Review 2025, recommendation 48d. These discussions have been focused on assessing the cost-effectiveness and viability of private training providers for elements of multi-engine pilot training to meet a short-term increase in front-line demand for multi-engine pilots due to the introduction of new Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) platforms within the RAF.
For allied training providers, military engagement is conducted through the NATO Flight Training Europe (NFTE) high visibility project, as well as Air Staff talks with strategic partner nations, Due to the commercial tender process and pending defence engagement technical agreements, it is not possible to disclose more specific details of discussions with specified private and allied training providers.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of recruitment levels of pilot trainees for meeting the RAF’s future operational requirements.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
A full and ongoing assessment has been made by the Royal Air Force (RAF) to ensure that there are adequate pilot recruits entering the Service to meet future operational requirements.
The RAF has sufficient pilots to meet its current front line operational requirements.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the potential deployment of military counter-unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities for civil purposes.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The UK employs a broad approach to deterring and defeating air and missile threats, including those from Uncrewed Air Systems (UAS or drones). The Ministry of Defence (MOD) works closely with the Home Office on Homeland C-UAS issues. While domestic peacetime C-UAS is a Home Office lead, the MOD maintains C-UAS systems for military purposes. Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) protocols provide a recognised framework to enable the provision of Defence capabilities to support civilian authorities in certain circumstances.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many fully qualified RAF pilots are available for front-line deployment; and how many pilots would be required for full operational capability.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I am withholding the information requested as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what funding his Department has allocated to the research and development of non-lethal and lawful counter-drone technologies in the last five years.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
A key part of the SDR's vision for UK defence is innovation driven by lessons from Ukraine - harnessing counter drone technology, data, and digital warfare to make our Armed Forces stronger and safer. This Government is investing an additional £2 billion this Parliament into autonomous systems, including countering drones.
Research and Development has been at the core of this rapid transformation, this has been an engine for growth and is happening all across industry, including in our support to Ukraine. This innovation and the funding associated with it, has involved many segments of the Ministry of Defence including the Defence and Security Accelerator, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and frontline capability development programmes. However, funding information across a five-year period is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will establish a judge-led inquiry into the RAF Chinook ZD576 crash on the Mull of Kintyre on 2 June 1994.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Mull of Kintyre crash was a tragic accident and our thoughts and sympathies remain with the families, friends and colleagues of all those who died.
The Department has received a formal claim for a Judicial Review of our decision to reject the demand for a Judge-led inquiry into the circumstances of the crash from the Chinook Justice Campaign. We are committed to engaging fully with this process, and you will understand that I am unable to provide further comment while this work is ongoing.