Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to improve the electronic warfare capabilities of His Majesty’s Armed Forces.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) designates the Cyber and Electromagnetic (CyberEM) domain as a strategic priority. In response, UK Strategic Command has transitioned to become Cyber & Specialist Operations Command (CSOC), providing explicit four-star leadership for the CyberEM domain alongside pan-Defence responsibility for Electronic Warfare (EW) concepts, doctrine, and capability development.
Additionally, CSOC has now established the Defence Cyber and EM Force (DCEMF) at two-star level to support operational commanders in integrating Electronic Warfare across the range of military effects.
Current EW programmes and projects continue to be funded and supported in service. Future proposals for additional EW capabilities are being considered through the Defence Investment Plan.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to streamline his Department’s procurement procedures.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Implementation of the procurement and acquisition reforms set out in the Defence Industrial Strategy is underway, under the new National Armaments Director who took up post on 14 October 2025.
We are introducing service-agnostic capability portfolios, aligned with wider departmental reforms. The portfolio-driven approach will increase pace and adaptability, enabling us to maximise the output from our investment, reduce waste and be more market aligned.
Five commercial pathways have been launched for Spiral, Urgent, Design to Cost, Digital & Technology and Low Complexity Procurement. Further Commercial Pathways are being developed including for S&T and Experimentation, National Security, and Infrastructure with a focus on harnessing commercial flexibilities to drive pace and adaptability.
These pathways underpin the new segmented approach to procurement which sets ambitious targets to drastically reduce the timescales to get new projects on contract by tailoring processes and timelines to the type of acquisition supplier and risk involved. This includes the Rapid Commercial Exploitation segment to allow us to pull the latest technology into operations and increase innovation.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to support good (a) mental and (b) physical health amongst retired veterans.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This Government remains dedicated in recognising our veterans for their service and is fully committed to ensuring that veterans are able to access the care and support they need.
In England, NHS England provides Op COURAGE, which delivers a broad range of specialist mental health wellbeing care and support for service leavers, reservists, and veterans. Op RESTORE provides specialist care and support to veterans who have physical health problems as a result of their service. Separate provision is available for veterans living in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Earlier this year we launched VALOUR, a new national programme designed to make it easier for veterans across the UK to access support when it is needed. The £27 million VALOUR development funding programme will deliver VALOUR Recognised Centres across the country, which will help cohere service provision and ensure that veterans can meet and discuss their issues with others who understand their unique experiences, within their communities, to further enhance their wellbeing.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Royal Air Force and (c) Army have taken to improve interoperability.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Strategic Defence Review states that the Armed Forces must compete the journey from 'joint' to 'integrated'. On 1 April 2025, the Chief of the Defence Staff became head of the new Military Strategic Headquarters (MSHQ) with command over the Service Chiefs. This change ensures that authorities for force design and activity delivery now flow top-down from a single point of military authority. The MSHQ has also appointed an interoperability champion to support NATO in its development of its own interoperability plan. We have already seen tangible progress in improving interoperability with allies, for example, the UK's Carrier Strike Group has recently been under NATO Command, integrated into both Alliance operational and tactical command and control Systems.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps the Royal Marines and the United States Marine Corps have taken to improve interoperability.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Royal Marines and the United States Marine Corps have an enduring partnership forged through decades of shared operations and tested in demanding environments. This ensures that they can operate seamlessly together. The United Kingdom and United States have permanent exchange positions in operational and capability organisations, and set shared priorities for interoperability across doctrine, training and capability development annually. Recent joint exercises include BALTOPS and BOLD QUEST, which advanced UK/US digital integration to improve command and control.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he will make it his Department's policy to reinstate the two-power standard as applied to the Royal Navy Fleet.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The 'two-power standard' was set out by the Naval Defence Act 1889 and dictated that the Royal Navy (RN) should maintain a fleet at least as strong as the next two powerful navies combined. Today our security is underpinned by NATO's collective defence, where capabilities are shared across 32 allies.
Modern naval warfare still demands mass, presence, and resilience. For that reason, The Royal Navy is transforming to a hybrid fleet, moving to a dispersed but digitally connected fleet of crewed, uncrewed, and autonomous platforms. This restores mass and power in a cost-effective way whilst ensuring we retain the cutting-edge capabilities expected of a leading NATO navy.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his Department's policy to reinstate compulsory chapels on Royal Navy vessels.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Navy Chaplaincy Service (RNCS) provides spiritual, pastoral and moral support to all personnel, regardless of faith and belief. Chaplains are routinely embarked on Royal Navy vessels, particularly major warships and deployed task groups, and will use and suitable quiet space for services, prayers and one-to-one support.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to improve the sonar capabilities of the Royal Navy surface fleet.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Innovation Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Spearhead Programme has focussed on accelerating the Navy's understanding of advanced capabilities. Key areas progressed include sensor optimisation, machine learning and artificial intelligence, to improve the sonar capabilities within the surface fleet.
Investment in the Anti-Submarine Warfare Sonar 2087 system has led to improvements to Type 23 capabilities. These improvements will also be pulled through to the Type 26 programme.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on cancelled programmes in the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Royal Air Force and (c) Army in each year since 2010.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Department's spend on cancelled programmes of over £300,000 is published as part of its Annual Report and Accounts.
As would be expected of any responsible organisation, the Ministry of Defence regularly reviews its programmes and assets to determine how best to meet future threats including taking appropriate action to address changes.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to (a) streamline army recruitment and (b) increase (i) regular and (ii) reserve military personnel numbers.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As part of the Strategic Defence Review, the Department has committed to increasing the British Army to at least 76,000 full time soldiers in the next Parliament.
Under this Government, we have driven improvements to recruiting process, stripping out outdated medical policies, reducing the time it takes to receive candidate medical records and widening cross-Government data sharing.
These measures, along with targeted recruiting and a restructure of the Army's recruiting organisation, are delivering results. Year on year the Army's soldier intake numbers are up 13%, officer numbers are up 10%.
Regarding specific measures to increase Army reserve numbers, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 June 2025 to Question 57778 to the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Ben-Obese Jecty) which remains extant.