New Medium Helicopter Programme

Debate between Luke Pollard and Edward Morello

Wednesday 11th February 2026 Westminster Hall

[Luke Pollard]

The hon. Gentleman is certainly right that we inherited a situation where there are far too many platforms across all our forces, which complicates servicing, operations and interoperability—the warfighting effect they can have—and does not create the inter- changeability that we are looking to deliver, as set out clearly in the strategic defence review.

The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) is no longer in his place, but in his intervention he spoke about the Puma helicopter, which is a really good example. Those helicopters were on average between 43 and 50 years old. It is hard to make the case that the Puma helicopter was at the cutting edge of military aviation. It was also an incredibly expensive helicopter to keep up. As we made decisions about removing old technology and investing in new technology, we announced that platforms like Puma would be retired. Retiring old equipment and bringing in new equipment is the right decision, and that is effectively the work we are trying to do at the moment.

[Edward Morello]

I do not disagree with the points the Minister is making, and Lord knows I am happy for us to dedicate the rest of the debate to bashing the previous Administration for their failures. He talks about the need to future-proof decision making. Part of the problem that we have with defence procurement is the length of time it takes to get from a decision to deployment. That means that we end up changing the spec of what we are asking for, which ends up with the Ajax disaster that we are all looking at. In the remaining time, will the Minister speak to what the plans are to speed up defence procurement to make quicker decisions on both smart tech and dumb tech and on crewed and uncrewed, so that we can get to that war footing as quickly as possible?

[Luke Pollard]

I had noted the hon. Gentleman’s question and was coming to it in a moment, but as he has invited me to, I will deal with it now.

Since the general election, we have signed 1,100 major defence contracts as a Government, and 84% of those have gone to British companies. Where we do buy from international companies, we do so either because the technology is solely available from international supply or because it provides a military advantage in terms of timescale, price point or interoperability function with existing technologies. That is a necessity. I want to see more of our rising defence budget spent with UK firms, and that includes international firms that are based in the United Kingdom, creating jobs and growth opportunities.

--- Later in debate ---

[Luke Pollard]

The strategic defence review sets out very clearly the mix that we are looking for, partly because the technology is not currently available. In many cases, there is not an off-the-shelf product that we can simply buy from UK, or largely international, firms. It is something that requires the innovation that we are looking for.

The work we are continuing to do with Leonardo recognises the opportunities for growth in the defence sector, the importance of sovereign capability, and the importance of different military capabilities within our overall force picture. Given the defence knowledge present in the debate, the hon. Member for Yeovil will appreciate that there are different and changing priorities, and that we are learning lessons from Ukraine in terms of what capabilities we need.

Some of the programmes that we inherited from the Conservatives, who are not represented in this debate, were unsuitable for modern conflict, and unfunded. A key part of the defence investment plan is ensuring that every programme that is in our programme of record is sustainable, funded and can exist in reality, not just on PowerPoint. That is a big difference to the previous Government’s approach. As we move to warfighting readiness, which is my No. 1 mission as a Minister, I need to ensure that the equipment that we are purchasing and supporting can provide the deterrent ability that we need to deter aggression, but also has the ability to defeat it if required. That is why we are preferencing battlefield-ready technologies and those that give an increase in lethality.

I appreciate the passion that the hon. Member for Yeovil has for his hometown, and the importance of the contract. I will commit to continuing to have conversations with him and MPs from the wider region, and we have frequent discussions with our colleagues from Leonardo.

[Edward Morello]

I am aware of the time and it sounds like the Minister is wrapping up, but I did not want to be the only Member in the debate who had not been complimented on their tie.

[Luke Pollard]

I am afraid I did not bring my long-vision glasses, so I cannot spot everyone’s tie.

New Medium Helicopter Contract

Debate between Luke Pollard and Edward Morello

Monday 12th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Luke Pollard]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question and the tone in which he asked it. I have a lot of time for him and his arguments. In fact, I think that “Shifting the goalposts?”, which talks about the rise and fall of defence spending, is one of the very best Defence Committee reports and it was issued when he was Chair of that Committee. I certainly recognise what the hon. Member for Yeovil said about timings. The contract in the procurement of the new medium helicopter included a period where the prices were guaranteed; we are keeping that in mind, because we want to make a decision and not to be timed out.

[Edward Morello (West Dorset) (LD)]

I congratulate my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Adam Dance), on securing this important urgent question. Leonardo may be based in Yeovil, but many of its 3,000 employees live in my West Dorset constituency, which is why, when I was elected, one of the first meetings I had was with Leonardo and it was about the new medium helicopter. The Minister has said today that the decision will be made “as soon as possible”, but on 10 February, in response to my question in the Chamber, his predecessor told me that the decision would be made “swiftly”. Given that every single defence manufacturer, SME and even the military personnel I meet say that we need to speed up defence procurement decisions—even the SDR itself urges the speeding up of defence procurement decisions—how much confidence can British industry have that the Government are listening to that need, when a decision about something as simple as a single contractor bid is taking so long to decide?

[Luke Pollard]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his advocacy for his constituents who work at Leonardo. I entirely understand what he says. We are already taking steps to reform defence procurement to speed up decisions, but I am clear that a big decision about the future of the NMH and the funding for it needs to be taken as part of the whole programme. The defence investment programme is so important and it is important that we get this decision right, so that everyone can have certainty and confidence in every single line item in the DIP, which is something they have not been able to have with the equipment programme that we inherited.