Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of using the same weapons across the three services.

The Ministry of Defence is continually assessing the merits of cross-Service use of weapons with the relevant Capability Directors. Indeed, the purpose of the Strategic Programmes Complex Weapon portfolio includes exploiting such opportunities. Examples include: the Thales Light-Weight Modular Missile with the Army for Ground-based Air Defence and the Royal Navy in its Anti-Ship Guided Weapon role; MBDA's Brimstone missile - already on Typhoon - will be embodied on Protector, and is being assessed by the Army in the Mounted Close Combat Overwatch role; and the Future Cruise / Anti-Ship Weapon supports the RAF's and Royal Navy's long-range strike requirement.