Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps he has taken to protect British waters from Russian submarines.

As the Strategic Defence Review outlines, there is a persistent and growing underwater threat to the UK and NATO from a modernising Russian submarine force.

In response, the Ministry of Defence has announced Atlantic Bastion – the Royal Navy's programme creating an advanced hybrid naval force to defend the UK and NATO allies against this evolving threat.

Atlantic Bastion will see ships, submarines, aircraft and unmanned vessels connected through AI-powered acoustic detection technology and integrated into a digital targeting web. Atlantic Bastion will enable the Armed Forces to find, track and, if required, act against adversaries with unprecedented effectiveness across vast areas of ocean. It represents a generational shift in capability and dominance in the North Atlantic.