Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on the (a) development and (b) procurement of AI-enabled defence systems in each of the last three years.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold specific figures on the development and procurement of AI-enabled defence systems. AI is not a standalone capability, but an enabling technology embedded across projects in both defence systems and in the business space across the Ministry. Over the last three financial years (FY) spending within the Chief Scientific Adviser's research portfolio on AI has been:

· FY2022-23 - £46.20 million

· FY2023-24 - £52.13 million

· FY2024-25 - £37.44 million

Procurement costs are not separately recorded and are integrated within wider programme budgets.

In August the MOD announced a procurement plan worth up to £180 million for digital decision capabilities to enable scalable operations involving autonomy, including using AI and machine learning to speed up decision making. Further detail on MOD's plans for investment in AI-enabled capabilities will be set out in the Defence Investment Plan.