Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Investment Plan, published on 30 June 2026, paragraph 49, what novel funding mechanisms will be used to increase the resilience and protection of critical underwater infrastructure.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

As set out in the Defence Investment Plan, the Ministry of Defence will invest £330 million over the next four years in critical underwater infrastructure protection, including enhanced capabilities for RFA PROTEUS. We will also explore opportunities to partner with industry and investors on commercially provided solutions to increase the resilience and protection of associated capabilities. The timelines associated with programme delivery remain will be determined as specific capability solutions are down selected.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Investment Plan, published on 30 June 2026, paragraph 49, by what date does he plan to introduce additional specialist shipping.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

As set out in the Defence Investment Plan, the Ministry of Defence will invest £330 million over the next four years in critical underwater infrastructure protection, including enhanced capabilities for RFA PROTEUS. We will also explore opportunities to partner with industry and investors on commercially provided solutions to increase the resilience and protection of associated capabilities. The timelines associated with programme delivery remain will be determined as specific capability solutions are down selected.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 10 July 2026 to question 16168 on Investment: Strait of Hormuz, how much has she approved from the HMT reserve to deploy additional capabilities in the Middle East for the Multinational Hormuz Mission.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

As set out in the Defence Investment Plan, the UK and France stand ready to deploy the wider Multinational Military Mission to support freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions has the Defence Investors’ Advisory Group met since its formation.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

We have established a Defence Investors Advisory Group (DIAG) to support the development of the Defence Finance and Investment Strategy (DFIS). Since its establishment, the DIAG has met on five occasions over a nine-month period. This has been supplemented by wider stakeholder engagement sessions and targeted bilateral discussions with key industry and investment partners.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 6 of the Defence Investment Plan, published on 30 June 2026, which projects on the current specified and prioritised list are yet to be started as new capability work as assessed by the Principal Accounting Officer.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

This Government has taken difficult but necessary choices to prioritise capability that reflects modern warfare, ensuring resources are focused on what will deliver advantage in the years ahead.

The Ministry of Defence will only start new capability work on a specified and prioritised list of investments at the point each capability is demonstrably affordable and deliverable within its overall budget as assessed by the Principal Accounting Officer. The prioritised list of projects is classified, and therefore will not be made publicly available.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Investment Plan, published on 30 June 2026, paragraph 31, what steps will be taken to deliver advantage in denied and degraded environments.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Taskforce RAID is taking steps to deliver advantage in denied and degraded environments by improving our understanding of how adversaries operate in the electromagnetic environment, and by strengthening the UK’s ability to counter that activity. This work will support a real-time understanding of the electromagnetic environment, drawing on information from multiple sources to help deliver operational effect at a time and place of the UK’s choosing.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Investment Plan, published on 30 June 2026, chapter 3, paragraph 14, does the £70 million allocation for Veterans between FY26/27 and FY29/30 include provision for waiving visa fees for spouses and children of service personnel who have served for more than four years.

Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 26 January 2026 to Question 107232.

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-01-20/107232.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress he has made on developing the joint complex weapons portfolio office.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

As set out in the Department's announcement of 1 April 2026, the United Kingdom and France agreed to establish a Joint Complex Weapons Portfolio Office. Work is progressing with the French Government to define, sequence and implement the most efficient arrangements required to support future UK-France Complex Weapons cooperation.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 3 July 2026 to question 10063 on Intelligence Services: Recruitment, for what reason are white candidates not eligible to apply for the MI5, MI6 and GCHQ Summer Intelligence Internship.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)

The UK Intelligence Community (UKIC) runs a number of internships and placement schemes. They are designed to provide insight about what it is like to work in UKIC to individuals who have particular skills and experience, want to work in a particular area, and/or are from demographics and backgrounds under-represented within UKIC. This is a lawful measure (as set out in the Equality Act 2010) used to encourage people from under-represented demographics to consider national security careers.

The eligibility criteria for specific internship schemes in UKIC are made publicly available on agency websites at the time when they are advertised. Any internship participant wishing to subsequently apply for employment with UKIC or the Civil Service is required to take part in fair and open competition, with selection based on merit.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Investment Plan, published on 30 June 2026, paragraph 93, what directed energy weapons are being developed in addition to DragonFire.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Defence Investment Plan (DIP) commits £490 million to Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) over the next four years. This investment will deliver DragonFire and help ensure the UK remains at the forefront of this technology within NATO, while laying the groundwork for the next generation of DEW capabilities in collaboration with UK industry.

This forms part of a longer-term investment programme. The DIP also sets out plans to invest at least £20 billion in new weapons and munitions between 2030 and 2035, including DEW for both land and maritime platforms.

Further announcements on DEW will be made when appropriate.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 6 of the Defence Investment Plan, published on 30 June 2026, what is the current status of the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship weapon.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Stratus programme with our European partners continues to progress to schedule. Development of the weapons and sub-systems is maturing, and the programme will transition soon to its Demonstration Phase. The weapons systems are planned to be integrated variously to Typhoon, Rafale and selected naval platforms including the Royal Navy's Type 26 frigate.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Investment Plan, published on 30 June 2026, paragraph 31, what is the scope of machine-augmented intelligence fusion.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

As the volume, range and speed of available information continue to increase, AI offers significant opportunities to augment existing intelligence processes. The Taskforce will establish AI systems capable of processing intelligence data quickly, with a high degree of assurance, to support operational decision-making, anomaly detection and predictive insights.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the number of US military firearms (a) lost and (b) stolen in the UK.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

While there may be a public interest in disclosing the number of losses and thefts, doing so would, or would be likely to prejudice capability, effectiveness of security arrangements, or the security of the US Visiting Forces. For these reasons it would not be appropriate to disclose this information. We have well established process which ensure all incidents are thoroughly investigated in partnership with the Ministry of Defence Police and/or Home Office Police Forces as appropriate.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the Planning Assumption for Service Entry for the Royal Navy’s new CCV class.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Hybrid Navy Integrated Air and Missile Defence capability will replace the current fleet of six Type 45 destroyers. While the Common Combat Vessel (CCV) remains in the initial stages of design, the Royal Navy’s aspiration is to sequence the arrival of the CCV and wider Hybrid Navy Integrated Air and Missile Defence capability with the out of service dates of the Type 45s in the mid-2030s onwards.

Found: Letter dated 19/08/2026 from Luke Pollard MP to Ben Obese-Jecty MP regarding parliamentary questions

Found: Letter dated 18/08/2026 from Luke Pollard MP to Ben Obese-Jecty MP in response to a Written Parliamentary

Found: LUKE POLLARD MP MINISTER OF STATE FOR DEFENCE READINESS AND INDUSTRY Ben Obese-Jecty