Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that the technological capabilities of combat brigades are effectively improved.

The Army is currently undergoing a combined programme of work to ensure that our manoeuvre forces will have the lethality, protection and mobility to fight and win against any adversary. Whilst the Army’s modernisation will continue over the next decade with a programme of investment worth billions of pounds, the future capability development priorities will be guided by the Strategic Defence Review.

As part of this modernisation, Brigade Combat Teams are set to receive ground capabilities, such as the combination of AJAX, BOXER and Challenger 3, and air capabilities, such as the wider Joint Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) capability and the Boeing AH-64E. In the longer term, the Army will experiment with multiplying crewed aviation mass and lethality whilst enhancing its survivability through Launched Effects.

The strength of the British Army comes not just from its platforms and capabilities, but from its people, and the new Government is working to address challenges in recruitment we inherited. We have made some announcements on this area and plan to make further announcements in due course.