Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the RUSI Lecture given by the Chief of the Defence Staff on 4 December 2024, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support high-risk, high-reward technology experimentation and (b) track the outcomes of such initiatives.

Defence invests in high-risk, high-reward technology experimentation from across the Defence enterprise. Defence’s core Science, Innovation and Technology budgets (e.g. Defence Science & Technology Programme and Defence Innovation Fund) are led from Head Office and are the main contributors to this. There are further investments from the Capability Portfolios of each Top Level Budget (e.g. Strategic Programmes, Single Service Commands) and utilise constructs such as the RAF’s Rapid Capabilities Office.

Recent examples of such work include the Dragonfire Laser Directed Energy Weapon Demonstrator and the BriteCloud Expendable Active Decoy.

Defence’s Research and Innovation programmes are run according to best practice Portfolio, Programme and Project management Processes which aim to deliver defined outcomes and benefits that are then tracked and monitored.

The Ministry of Defence is currently undertaking the Defence Reform programme, which will determine the delivery and exploitation mechanisms for any ‘high-risk, high-reward’ technologies. This builds on both the current S&T portfolio processes and the ‘Spearhead’ and ‘Gamechanger’ initiatives which are currently experimenting ways to improve delivery.”