Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will support the 2024 resolution on lethal autonomous weapons systems at the United Nations General Assembly First Committee.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
At the UN General Assembly on 5th November 2024 the United Kingdom joined 161 other states in voting in favour of Resolution 1/79/L.77 on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Prime Minister's speech at the UN General Assembly on 26 September, whether they are supportive of an international treaty on Autonomous Weapon Systems.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
International discussions on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS) are undertaken under the auspices of the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) via a Group of Government Experts (GGE). In 2023 the UK joined consensus on a strengthened mandate for the GGE to "consider and formulate, by consensus, a set of elements of an instrument, without prejudging its nature, and other possible measures to address emerging technologies in the area of lethal autonomous weapons systems". The UK remains committed to working constructively and proactively to fulfil that mandate through that process.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the scale of innovation in the UK’s defence and security sector, in the light of the success of non-legacy defence contractors in recent US procurement rounds.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the importance of engaging with non-traditional defence suppliers and is working closely with UK Industry and Academia to identify and invest in innovative technologies that address our most pressing capability challenges.
This includes initiatives such as the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), which is designed to find and fund innovative solutions to defence and security challenges, for example through Regional Defence and Security Clusters (RDSCs)
This Government is committed to bringing forward a Defence Industrial Strategy, working closely with industry to support UK resilience and innovation.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by The Earl of Minto on 7 December 2023 (HL Deb col 1570), what plans they have to regularise the process of cost forecasting among the three armed services.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The Department's current operating model, where responsibility for managing the equipment plan is delegated to Top Level Budget Holders, acknowledges that they have different financial positions and carry a balance between capability and financial risk.
I remain committed to reviewing the format of future equipment plan reports to ensure they remain fit for purpose.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Goldie on 3 July (HL Deb col 987), what estimate they have made of the planned UK expenditure consequent on the AUKUS agreement.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Shadow Minister (Defence)
As announced in the Integrated Review Refresh, we are providing £2 billion this year and £2.95 billion next year to Defence. Of this new money, £3 billion will be invested across the defence nuclear enterprise, supporting areas such as the construction of industrial infrastructure, allowing us to continue to grow our graduate and apprentice nuclear skills programmes, and enhancing support to in-service submarines. This will support the overall delivery of AUKUS, while longer-term funding will be revisited at the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the operational readiness and viability of the UK’s Warfighting 3rd Division.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Shadow Minister (Defence)
Warfighting capability remains the cornerstone of deterrence and the bedrock of a world-class British Army. The 3rd (UK) Division is at the heart of this, able to manage a multi-domain battle in ever greater depth; designed to act with NATO and capable of providing a framework for Allies.
The Army constantly keeps its warfighting capability under review, and regularly assesses the adequacy of its readiness. It is embracing the ever-changing global landscape and ensuring that it will be more capable against peer adversaries and integrated with our NATO Allies and partners.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with international partners in respect of the possibility of deploying UK military personnel to support (1) EUFOR’s Operation Althea, or (2) NATO headquarters in Sarajevo.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The UK Government regularly discusses maintaining stability in the Western Balkans with our NATO Allies and European partners. The UK provides support for EUFOR ALTHEA through NATO (the operation is carried out with recourse to NATO assets and capabilities) and coordinated bilateral exercising. The UK will support the renewal of EUFOR's UN Security Council mandate, due by November.
The UK already has military personnel deployed to NATO's headquarters in Sarajevo.