Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many unmanned aerial vehicles the armed forces have procured in 2025 and will procure in 2026.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has had delivery of over 1,500 uncrewed systems over the last year, and has delivered approximately 95,000 drones to Ukraine since July 2024. For security reasons we cannot provide a breakdown of what systems have been procured.
Drones, including unmanned aerial systems, are integral to the modern way of warfighting, exemplified in the lessons gleaned from the war in Ukraine. The Strategic Defence Review announced an increase in autonomy investment of £2 billion in this Parliament, taking total Defence investment in autonomy to circa £4 billion. Work to deliver the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including on autonomy and drones, will be prioritised appropriately against the threat as part of the future Integrated Force and set out in the Defence Investment Plan to be published this year.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve glioblastoma survival rates.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to supporting an innovative clinical research ecosystem in the United Kingdom so that patients in this country can be among the first to benefit as we make the National Health Service fit for the future.
The Government supports Scott Arthur’s Private Members Bill on rare cancers which will make it easier for clinical trials into rare cancers, such as glioblastomas, to take place in England by ensuring the patient population can be easily contacted by researchers. This will ensure that the NHS will remain at the forefront of medical innovation and is able to provide patients with the newest, most effective treatment options, and ultimately boost survival rates.
Early next year, the Government will publish a National Cancer Plan which will set out targeted actions to reduce the lives lost to cancers and improve the experience of patients, including rarer cancers such as glioblastomas.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the current lead times are for procuring new tanks, artillery systems and missile platform and how do those times compare to other NATO countries; and what steps he is taking to reduce those timelines.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Industrial Strategy set out an average of six years to contract for major defence platforms. Whilst differing procurement systems make direct comparisons with other countries challenging, our new segmented approach to procurement, supported by accelerated commercial pathways, is designed to enable programmes to get to contract faster. We are making progress towards the target date of 1 April 2026 for establishment of the segmented approach in line with the Strategic Defence Review.
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 reducing procurement timelines for major military platforms from six years to two.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Industrial Strategy set out an average of six years to contract for major defence platforms. Whilst differing procurement systems make direct comparisons with other countries challenging, our new segmented approach to procurement, supported by accelerated commercial pathways, is designed to enable programmes to get to contract faster. We are making progress towards the target date of 1 April 2026 for establishment of the segmented approach in line with the Strategic Defence Review.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether additional 155mm artillery shell production orders will be placed with BAE Systems’ Washington plant.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We can confirm that additional 155mm artillery shell production orders will be placed with BAE Systems’ Washington plant.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the status is of the Remote Controlled Howitzer (RCH) 155 gun system programme.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 12 November to Question 88294, which remains extant:
The project aims to achieve Minimum Deployable Capability (MDC) within this decade and will deliver the Remote-Controlled Howitzer 155mm (RCH 155) Calibre Wheeled Artillery System. The project remains in its assessment phase and therefore it remains too early to provide an exact in-service date
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on adapting Type 45 destroyers to carry Sea Ceptor missiles.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Sea Ceptor is already in service on all Type 23 frigates and work is underway to introduce it onto the Type 45 destroyers, as well as the new Type 26 and Type 31 frigates. This expansion of Sea Ceptor will further strengthen local air defence capabilities in the surface fleet.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment has been made of whether current and planned orders for Starstreak and Lightweight Modular Missiles are sufficient to replenish stockpiles provided to Ukraine.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We are committed to investing more in munitions as set out in the Strategic Defence Review and details of what we will be investing in will be in the Defence Investment Plan.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the status is of the Future Combat Air System Tempest programme.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2024 to Question 79701 to the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr Obese-Jecty).
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the UK’s ability to sustain production of major defence equipment during a high-intensity conflict without reliance on overseas supply chains.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) set out how we must move to warfighting readiness, that includes increasing industrial production and capacity and adding resilience. We are delivering on the SDR vision and the Defence Investment Strategy (DIS) sets out steps forward in this respect.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) is strengthening its supply chains to ensure procurement is more resilient, innovative, and agile. Under the Strategic Defence Review and Defence Industrial Strategy, we are developing a collaborative wargaming capability focused on supply chain resilience. This includes surge capacity planning, investment in UK industrial capability, and circular economy initiatives to secure critical raw materials and enable rapid production scaling during times of conflict.