Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support semiconductor research relevant to defence.

The Ministry of Defence is working closely with Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, The Department for Business and Trade and the Ministerial chaired Semiconductor Advisory Panel, alongside UK industry and allied partners, to ensure assured long-term access to both commercial and specialist semiconductor technologies essential to defence capability.

In addition to this, the Department is strengthening the resilience and sovereignty of semiconductor supply by improving visibility of lower tier dependencies and strengthening our ability to understand and influence the supply chain, supported by strong lifecycle and diversification measures.