Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that a 6th generation air system replacement for the Typhoon aircraft is (a) designed and (b) manufactured in the UK.

The Integrated Review confirmed our intent to develop a Future Combat Air System (FCAS) as a replacement for the capability provided by our Typhoon fast-jets. The 2018 Combat Air Strategy and 2021 Defence and Security Industrial Strategy both outline the importance of sustaining national defence industrial capability.

In the summer of 2021, we awarded the national contract, initially worth £250 million, for concept and assessment work under the FCAS Acquisition Programme. This was awarded to BAE Systems, Leonardo, MBDA and Rolls-Royce (Team Tempest), with flow through to the wider national supply chain. The Concept & Assessment Phase will define the capability we require and invest in the skills and infrastructure needed to deliver it. Our Team Tempest partners now have 2,500 people working on FCAS across the UK, with many more in the supply chain, and this number is growing. Under the Acquisition Programme, £1 billion has already been invested in UK Research & Development through the FCAS Technology Initiative, with a further £1 billion set to be invested over the coming years. This is laying the groundwork for the programme's later stages, with the aim of delivering FCAS in a shorter timeframe than previous programmes.