Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release entitled UK and Germany sign £52m contract for cutting-edge artillery, published on 28 December, when he expects RCH 155 to conclude its assessment phase.

The joint Assessment Phase, in collaboration with Germany, is expected to conclude in Quarter four of 2029. Similarly to Germany, the Department's aim is to commit to production on the common build standard as soon as possible, subject to receiving a costed proposal. The assessment and demonstration activities will be conducted concurrently, to accelerate delivery and achieve a Minimum Deployable Capability within this decade.