British Military Equipment: Chinese Components

Baroness Goldie Excerpts

Wednesday 25th February 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Goldie]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which British military equipment contains components made in China or is reliant on rare earth minerals from China.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Lemos) (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government and the Ministry of Defence welcome foreign trade where it allows us to provide our Armed Forces with the equipment they require, but the Government will not compromise our national security or our stringent legal and regulatory requirements or conflict with the objectives of our defence industrial strategy. The Government are working at pace to diversify the UK critical mineral supply chain and reduce reliance on any single source.

[Baroness Goldie (Con)]

My Lords, the chilling reality is that we are living in an age of cyber and data espionage and sabotage, whether from the use of SIMs, cellular IoT modules and everyday domestic components or wilfully directed malign activity by agencies hostile to western values and the UK. Can the Minister confirm to this House in more detail what protective measures the MoD is urgently deploying in respect of our defence supply chain to avoid our defence capability being unacceptably compromised?

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

The Government introduced a new critical minerals strategy—which is part of what the noble Baroness is asking about—that set an ambition for 2035 to reduce our reliance, and we are engaging with our partners on this. We also signed an MoU on critical minerals in Washington DC. She asked me specifically about the approach of the MoD. The MoD is working hard to think about ways of stockpiling critical components and critical minerals for the UK defence sector and to improve recycling and the circular economy. I want to stress the recognition of the point that the noble Baroness makes and the need for a much wider approach, as identified in the strategic defence review and the national security strategy. We do not in any way underestimate the persistent challenges in this space, and we will do all in our power to use the powers we have to deal with them.