Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the tweet by his Procurement Adviser on 9 December, in which areas in the combat air sector he considers that the UK has weak industrial capabilities.

On 9 December 2022, the UK, Japan and Italy announced the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), a trilateral partnership to develop a next generation fighter jet. The UK, Japan and Italy all have strong combat air industrial capabilities, which complement each other and enable the synergies needed to deliver the programme at pace. Industry partners from these three advanced industrial nations will play an important part in the programme, working together to develop the capability. This partnership allows us to harness the strong industrial bases of each country in the co-development of advanced technologies, to deliver cutting-edge military capabilities and share the cost of development as we further modernise the already strong industrial base in each country.

The UK defence industry is already leading the world in advanced aerospace engineering, as demonstrated by our core role in the development of Typhoon, our participation in F35 and our success in the defence exports market. The Defence Command Paper noted that UK combat air industry employs 18,000 people, with tens of thousands more in the supply chain. There are now over 2,500 people employed in this new programme, and the number continues to grow. Since the launch of the Concept and Assessment Phase in 2021, we have done substantial work defining and designing the system and are working on a range of technology areas, including the development a joint engine demonstrator and advanced sensors. Within the UK, the programme is a key avenue for public and private investment in Research and Development in the combat air industrial sector. Ministry of Defence has already invested over £1 billion, with hundreds of millions more from private industry, developing advanced industrial capabilities and keeping the UK combat air sector at the cutting edge internationally.