Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to protect UK (a) military personnel and (b) armed forces bases from potential drone attacks from Russia.

The UK employs a broad approach to deterring and defeating air and missile threats, including those from Uncrewed Air Systems (UAS or drones). The Ministry of Defence (MOD) collaborates closely with the Home Office on Homeland C-UAS issues, providing expertise on threat identification and capability requirements to ensure a whole of Government approach to defending against these threats.

We pursue counter-proliferation and military activities to counter threats before an attack is ever launched. However, if those approaches fail, we can employ a range of active and passive defence measures to intercept the threat and increase our resilience.

Given the significant threat posed by UAS to our personnel and bases, counter-UAS (C-UAS) remains a crucial component of our Defence approach. UK Defence has developed and procured a broad range of cutting-edge C-UAS capabilities, including from UK industries, much of which is now operationally proven. Alongside this we are perusing a variety of further C-UAS projects, for example the Navy’s Dragonfire programme.

We are committed to enhancing our capabilities and modernising our Air Defence approach to ensure our Armed Forces have the capabilities they need to meet current and future threats. As part of this commitment, a Strategic Defence Review is being conducted with C-UAS capabilities forming a vital part of our inputs to this review.