Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to fund the Type 83 Destroyer programme.

The Defence Investment Plan sets out the Royal Navy’s (RN) approach to delivering the UK’s most advanced maritime air defence capability and the rationale for this approach. Rather than delivering this capability through a small number of large and expensive Type 83 destroyers, the RN will instead invest in a hybrid mix of crewed and uncrewed capabilities that will be more suited to facing the threats of modern warfare. The RN will procure at least six Common Combat Vessels (CCV) which will act as a control hub for uncrewed systems, thus extending the Navy’s reach, resilience and lethality.