Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of whether the UK/EU–Ukraine Defence Innovation Corridor could help UK drone manufacturers benefiting from the Ukraine drone package to develop longer-term co-production and technology-sharing arrangements with Ukrainian industry.

The UK continues to assess the strategic landscape across Europe for opportunities that contribute to our collective defence and military industrial resilience. This has included officials meeting representatives of the UK/EU–Ukraine Defence Innovation Corridor and providing advice on how this early‑stage proposal could align with existing UK–Ukraine engagement on defence innovation and capability development.

The Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) focus is delivering Programme LYRA, which the Prime Minister and President Zelenskyy announced last June, and unlocking export control restrictions that will enable UK drone manufacturers to benefit from co-production and technology sharing arrangements, alongside supporting the exchange of battlefield data, with UK technologists and industry working alongside Ukrainian industry. MOD facilitates collaboration between Ukrainian and UK drone manufacturers by enabling co-location, testing and close working relationships to support both our industries and enhance innovation. The establishment of the UK’s Business Centre in Kyiv will help facilitate this for the benefit of UK, European, and Ukrainian industry.