Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the hearing of the Defence Committee on 7 July 2026, HC 530, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the delay in appointing the National Arms Director on the timeline for the delivery of the Defence Investment Plan, published on 30 June 2026.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Defence Investment Plan (DIP) is backed by £298 billion of investment over the next four years. The Plan will transform our Armed Forces, delivering on the vision of the 2025 Strategic Defence Review. There was no impact on the DIP from the timing of the appointment of the National Armament Director (NAD); both Rupert Pearce and the former Acting NAD, Andy Start, were involved in the development of the DIP and there was no gap between their tenures.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the hearing of the Defence Committee on 7 July 2026, HC 530, whether he intends to introduce annual reporting to Parliament on the delivery of the Defence Investment Plan against published milestones.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

There will be an annual update to Parliament before summer recess each year on progress against the Defence Investment Plan and any changes in financial investments, with the aim to publish the first report by July 2027.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Select Committee session on the Defence Investment Plan on 7 July 2026, whether he plans to accelerate delivery of programmes within the Defence Investment Plan in response to accelerating threats.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Defence Investment Plan demonstrates the commitment of this Government to meet and respond to the rising threats and demands on Defence. The £74 billion allocated to the Ministry of Defence forfinancial year 2027-28 is £20 billion more for our Armed Forces than the last year of the previous Government and the budget will continue to grow in real terms for the rest of this Parliament.

As set out in last year's Defence Industrial Strategy, we are revamping our procurement framework, delivering a comprehensive review of defence contracting to incentivise productivity and improve delivery. This includes our new approach to segmented procurement as well as shifting our approach away from setting detailed plans for overspecified, overly long programmes in favour of rapid procurement of new capabilities, based on portfolios and thematic pipelines of spend.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Select Committee session on the Defence Investment Plan on 7 July 2026, what assessment he has made of the impact the delay in the publication of the DIP has had on the UK's relationship with allies.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Through the Defence Investment Plan, the UK will strengthen its global leadership, and we will work with our allies and partners to deliver our commitments. The plan confirms existing industrial partnerships and provides new opportunities to collaboratively develop the next generation of capabilities.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Written Statement of 14 July 2026, entitled The Armoured Cavalry Programme, UIN HCWS237, what is the estimated date of completion of the Ministerial Review.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The review, chaired by Jonathan Simcock, is expected to complete in the autumn.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Select Committee session on the Defence Investment Plan on 7 July 2026, what assessment he has made of whether current defence expenditure is sufficient to meet the capability assumptions underpinning the Strategic Defence Review.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Government is confident that the Defence Investment Plan provides the resources needed to deliver the capability priorities set out in the Strategic Defence Review. The plan places Defence on a stronger and more sustainable footing, backed by £298 billion of investment over the next four years, including an additional £15 billion above previous plans.

The plan invests in the capabilities required to meet current and future threats. This includes over £20 billion to increase the Army's lethality, over £11 billion for munitions stockpiles and production, over £5 billion in drones, over £2.5 billion for cyber capabilities, £790 million for homeland air and missile defence, and nearly £64 billion for the UK's nuclear enterprise and deterrent.

These investments ensure that Defence is better equipped to deliver the Strategic Defence Review's vision of enhanced warfighting readiness, deterrence and national resilience.

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 time taken to publish the Defence Investment Plan on the UK's ability to defend itself.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The timing of the publication of the Defence Investment Plan has not adversely affected the United Kingdom's ability to defend itself. The Defence Investment Plan builds on investment already made in Defence and provides a funded framework to deliver the Strategic Defence Review, placing Defence on a stronger and more sustainable footing. It is backed by £298 billion over the next four years, including an additional £15 billion of spending power, and focuses on equipping our Armed Forces with the capabilities needed to deter and respond to current and future threats.

The Government remains committed to ensuring that Defence is adequately resourced to meet the challenges ahead.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Select Committee session on the Defence Investment Plan on 7 July 2026, what estimate he has made of the additional annual funding required to deliver the Defence Investment Plan in full by 2030.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Defence Investment Plan sets out how we will deliver and fund the Strategic Defence Review's recommendations between this year and financial year 2029-30.

Further decisions on the level of future increases in defence spending will be set out in the 2027 Spending Review as stated in the Defence Investment Plan.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the hearing of the Defence Committee on 7 July 2026, HC 530, whether his Department has made an assessment of the change in the threat posed by Iran to Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

For reasons of operational security, we do not comment on specific threat assessments relating to Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia or on the security measures in place there.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release entitled UK drone transformation to strengthen Armed Forces backed by more than £5 billion, published on 29 June 2026, how much of the £5 billion will be spent in each of the next four years.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Defence Investment Plan is backed by a Ministry of Defence budget totalling £298 billion over the next four years and sets out over £180 billion of investment in the integrated force across all domains, including £5 billion on drones.

Individual annual settlements across domains, and the programmes and platform within them, will be subject to future planning cycles.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with NATO allies on eliminating defence trade barriers.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Through NATO defence industrial and armaments forums, and bilateral meetings, the United Kingdom regularly engages with Allies on reducing unnecessary barriers to defence trade and industrial cooperation, including export control processes, technology transfer arrangements, standardisation, and interoperability requirements. In the Ankara Summit Declaration Allies reaffirmed their commitment to continue work to eliminate defence trade barriers and strengthen defence industrial cooperation.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the implications of the commitments agreed at the NATO meeting in Ankara for the UK's future defence spending plans.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The commitments announced at the NATO meeting in Ankara are reflected the Defence Investment Plan and are already part of the UK's future defence spending plans.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Defence Investment Plan will include details of the financial contributions from all Government Departments.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Defence Investment Plan sets out Defence’s planned investment in the capabilities, infrastructure and industrial capacity required to deliver the outcomes of the Strategic Defence Review. The Plan focuses on Defence expenditure.

Defence works closely with other government departments to support wider national security objectives. Normal government fiscal and departmental processes reflect cross-government spending arrangements.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 April to Question 122757 on Ministry of Defence: Finance, whether the (a) Government document and (b) plan referred to will be separate documents.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided to Question 122757 on 30 April 2026 which sets out the Government's position on this matter. As referred to in Question 122757 the Defence Investment Plan is both a government document and plan.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the proportion of his Department's budget that will be been spent on the Chagos treaty in each remaining year of the current Parliament.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

No payments are due under the terms of the UK-Mauritius agreement until the Treaty has been ratified.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has conducted an assessment of the implications for NATO should implementation of the Defence Investment Plan be delayed.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The Government is committed to the implementation of the Defence Investmeny Plan (DIP).

The DIP implements our ‘NATO First’ approach, placing NATO requirements and interoperability at the heart of UK capability planning. The decisions we have taken will increase the UK’s readiness for the future fight, whilst sustaining our contribution to NATO operations and deterrence activity.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release entitled UK drone transformation to strengthen Armed Forces backed by more than £5 billion, published on 29 June 2026, whether the £5 billion to be spent on drones over the next four years is in addition to the £4 billion to be spent on autonomous systems announced by his Department on 2 June 2025.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

This government has increased military drone and autonomous system spending as part of the £298 billion Defence Investment Plan.

The Defence Investment Plan allocated over £5 billion to military drone and autonomous systems, increasing spending from £4 billion to £5 billion over the next four years. This will cover programmes across the Maritime, Land, and Air domains to support the transformation of our Armed Forces, and includes a multitude of capabilities, ranging from the Hybrid Naval Fleet to One-Way Attack Drones.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the hearing of the Defence Committee on 7 July 2026, HC 530, whether his Department has made an assessment of General Sir Richard Barrons' comments on the financial gap between the level of funding required to implement strategic defence review requires and the proposed level of funding.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Defence Investment Plan provides full funding for the recommendations set out in the Strategic Defence Review. The Government accepted all of the Review’s recommendations, and significant progress has already been made in delivering them, including the establishment of the Military Intelligence Service and the publication of the Defence Diplomacy Strategy.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Select Committee session on the Defence Investment Plan on 7 July 2026, what assessment he has made of the potential risks to UK national security arising from the delay in the implementation of capabilities identified in the Defence Investment Plan.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

This Government has ended the underfunding and hollowing out of our Armed Forces that we inherited from the last administration.

Backed by £298 billion of investment over the next four years, the Defence Investment Plan will deliver a step change in capability, transforming our Armed Forces and realising the vision set out in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review.

We have not waited for the publication of the Defence Investment Plan to take action. Since July 2024, we have awarded more than 1,400 defence contracts, with 94% of their total value going to UK-based businesses, strengthening our defence industrial base and supporting jobs and growth across the country. Last year alone, we spent more than £31 billion with UK industry – an above inflation increase in spending.

Found: During the financial year the Minister was James Cartlidge.