Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of UK missile production capacity in meeting the requirements of a sustained high-intensity conflict; and whether that assessment has been informed by missile consumption rates in the recent conflict between the United States and Iran.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK’s munition stockpile levels and operational planning assumptions are classified; disclosure of such information could undermine national and operational security. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) works with the Military Commands and industry to regularly review munitions demand, supply resilience and opportunities to increase production capacity. This ensures our munitions planning assumptions remain aligned with the evolving threat environment and lessons identified from recent operations.
As we have set out in the Defence Investment Plan, we are investing in increasing munitions production capacity, including plans for six new energetics and munitions factories and an "always on" production model for some key munitions.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the long-term sustainability of UK naval shipbuilding capacity following the completion of programmes funded under the Defence Investment Plan.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government assesses the long-term sustainability, capability and capacity of UK naval shipbuilding through the ongoing work of the National Shipbuilding Office (NSO), as part of the National Armaments Director Group, and the Royal Navy.
The Defence Investment Plan provides a significant forward programme of naval procurement, and the NSO, RN and wider NADG will continue to work closely with industry to understand future workforce, capacity and infrastructure requirements in the immediate and long term.
The NSO will publish a Shipbuilding and Maritime Technology Action Plan later this year which will detail this government’s approach to ensuring the long-term growth and sustainability of the UK Shipbuilding sector.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has assessed the risk of a reduction in the Royal Navy frigate force resulting from the withdrawal of Type 23 frigates before the entry into service of replacement Type 26 and Type 31 frigates.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 July 2026 to Question 17101 to the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr Obese-Jecty).
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-07-08/17101
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to maintain Royal Navy escort numbers pending the entry into service of the planned fleet of Type 26 and Type 31 frigates.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 July 2026 to Question 17101 to the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr Obese-Jecty).
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-07-08/17101
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what analysis his Department has undertaken of the military flying training systems operated by NATO allies for the purpose of identifying opportunities to improve value for money and pilot output within the UK Military Flying Training System.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK undertakes regular analysis of NATO flying training system opportunities via participation in the NATO Flying Training Europe High Visibility Project, the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training system and the International Flying Training School. Output is reviewed for quality, safety and value for money to ensure the Combat Air requirement is met for new Fast Jet Pilots.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what cost has been incurred by his Department on corrosion inspection and remediation work for the F-35 fleet.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As with all aircraft types, corrosion inspection and remediation was anticipated and included as part of the whole life cost estimate for the programme. It is conducted across Government and industry facilities. It is therefore not possible to disaggregate the cost of corrosion from wider maintenance costs.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress he has made on deep maintenance and corrosion inspection of the F-35 fleet.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK is following the F-35 Joint Program Office-directed maintenance policy for corrosion inspection. All aircraft types undertake corrosion inspection and maintenance throughout their life. This activity is well under way on the UK F-35 fleet and will be ongoing through the life of the platform.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated value is of defence procurement programmes that have received departmental approval but are awaiting contract signature.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold information in the specific format requested. The Department reviews and grants departmental approval at programme level. However, a single approved procurement programmefrequently encompasses multiple underlying contracts.
These individual contracts are often distributed across differing stages of pre-award finalisation, commercial negotiation, or international partnership development. Our central tracking systems monitor approvals by macro-programme capability rather than at an aggregated ledger of un-signed contract valuations, compiling a single estimated value could only be achieved at disproportionate cost. The Department remains fully committed to commercial transparency.
To maintain public accountability without disrupting active commercial negotiations, the MOD continuously publishes its upcoming commercial pipeline via the UK 1 Pipeline Notice on Find a Tender, in alignment with modern transparency obligations.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether stockpile holdings for (a) Brimstone, (b) Paveway IV, (c) SPEAR 3, (d) Meteor and (e) ASRAAM munitions are assessed as meeting departmental planning assumptions and needs.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not publish munition stockpile levels, as disclosure of such information could undermine national and operational security. The UK’s weapons stockpile is maintained at levels required by the Armed Forces and is actively reviewed to balance threats, availability, industrial capacity, and technology.
The MOD reviews and updates our munitions plan periodically, ensuring that planning assumptions remain aligned with the evolving threat environment and lessons identified from recent operations. Requirements for Brimstone, Paveway IV, SPEAR 3, Meteor and ASRAAM capabilities will be considered as part of this broader review to ensure UK stockpiles remain sufficient to meet the demands of current and future operations.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the level of requirement for a successor capability to Challenger 3 beyond its planned out-of-service date.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has assessed that there remains an enduring requirement for the capability provided by a Main Battle Tank. The Challenger 3 Main Battle Tank will provide the British Army’s principal armoured fighting capability through the 2030s, and the Department continues to consider how this capability should be sustained in the longer term. No decisions have yet been taken on a specific successor programme.