Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has taken recent steps to increase the number of frigates available to the Royal Navy.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Royal Navy (RN) continues to ensure that it has sufficient assets available to deliver its operational outputs. In the coming years, the make-up of the RN will change as it transitions from Type 23 Frigates to Type 26 Anti-Submarine Warfare and Type 31 General Purpose Frigates.
The Integrated Review conducted in 2021 provided an additional £1.8 billion for shipbuilding to grow the Royal Navy over the coming decades.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has taken recent steps to increase the number of armoured vehicles available to the army.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The British Army holds and maintains an appropriate amount of Main Battle Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles to meet operational requirements.
Consideration of equipment fleet sizes is routine activity to ensure they remain sufficient to meet Defence’s needs.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of producing further Type 26 and Type 31 frigates for the Royal Navy.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Royal Navy is carefully managing a Frigate Transition Programme to ensure the highest priority outputs are maintained through the 2020s as the Type 23 Frigates are retired, and the Type 26 and Type 31 Frigates are introduced into service. Current and planned force levels are continually assessed to ensure that they are optimised to best deliver the tasks His Majesty's Government asks of it, now and in the future. At the present time, it is assessed that the Type 26 and Type 31 Frigates ordered will be sufficient to meet requirements.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support the (a) production and (b) development of the Dreadnought-class ballistic missile submarines; and whether he is taking steps to accelerate the programme.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Like all major defence programmes, the Dreadnought Class submarine programme is regularly assessed for opportunities to de-risk schedule and improve performance. The programme remains within its overall budget and on track for the First of Class, HMS Dreadnought, to enter service in the early 2030s.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of (a) developing and (b) constructing additional Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) aircraft carriers provide the backbone of the UK's carrier strike capability and are intended to do so for decades to come.
The exact capabilities and technology hosted on the QECs will evolve over time but having two is assessed as sufficient to assure continuous carrier capability.
Therefore, at the current time, there are no plans to build additional QEC carriers, but the Royal Navy continually assesses its current and planned force structures to ensure they are optimised to best deliver the tasks His Majesty's Government asks of it, now and in the future.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure the effective (a) development and (b) roll out of the Challenger 3 fourth-generation main battle tank.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The approved schedule of work for Challenger 3 remains on track. Prototypes enter manufacture this year, with Initial Operating Capability in 2027. Recent successful design reviews further strengthen our confidence in delivering Challenger 3.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support the UK's defence industry and (b) ensure national security in 2023.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The most recent estimate shows Ministry of Defence (MOD) investment supports 219,000 jobs in industries across the UK, including 141,000 direct jobs and 78,000 indirect jobs. Transparency, communication, and a longer-term view of our priorities are fundamental principles of the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy (DSIS) which should give industry the confidence to plan ahead and co-invest alongside government accordingly.
Continued high and focussed investment in defence, along with the changes we are making as part of DSIS, means that the MOD is well placed to support the UK's defence industry which underpins our national security.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the success of the sixth generation fighter program between the UK, Japan and Italy.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Since we launched the Concept and Assessment phase of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme in 2021, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has been working with industry partners to define and design the capability we require and invest in the skills and infrastructure needed to deliver it. MOD has already invested over £1 billion in developing the skills and technologies needed to deliver at pace and our Team Tempest industry partners have also invested hundreds of millions more. Industry partners are using transformative technologies and processes such as additive manufacturing and digital design and testing to drastically speed up the development process while enhancing product quality. BAE Systems' Factory of the Future in Lancashire is demonstrating integrated and agile manufacturing capabilities including advanced 3D printing and autonomous robotics.
On 9 December 2022 the Prime Minister announced our partnership with Italy and Japan, known as the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), to jointly develop the core aircraft. we will now focus on activities to mature the programme in preparation for the main development phase, scheduled for 2025. Over the next few years, substantial joint work will be undertaken to bring together the UK/Italy’s pre-existing FCAS collaboration and Japan’s FX programme into a single new venture.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made on the potential risk of escalation in supplying long-range ballistic weaponry to Ukraine; and what other weaponry and aid is he may provide to Ukraine as an alternative.
Answered by James Heappey
While we are mindful of the risk of escalation, we will continue to support Ukraine with an appropriate and balanced mix of military capabilities to assist them in defending their sovereign territory against Russian aggression. The UK will keep our support to Ukraine under review and has not ruled out the possibility of providing longer range weapons systems to counter Russia's recent indiscriminate mass targeting of civilian infrastructure.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support defence jobs in the UK.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The most recent estimate shows Ministry of Defence (MOD) investment supports 219,000 jobs in industries across the UK, including 141,000 direct jobs and 78,000 indirect jobs.
Continued high and focussed investment in defence, along with the changes we are making as part of DSIS, means that the MOD is well placed to contribute to economic growth and Levelling Up across the Union.