Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the full scope of the Royal Navy’s Atlantic Strike concept.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
This Government remains firmly committed to the objectives set out in the Strategic Defence Review. The Royal Navy Warfighting Ready Plan 2029 provides an ambitious and strategic blueprint for how the Navy with strengthen and evolve its capabilities in line with the Strategic Defence Review, in order to fulfil its role to protect the nation and its interests at a time of growing maritime threat and technological advancement. Atlantic Shield and Strike form part of the Royal Navy Warfighting Ready Plan.
Atlantic Shield and Atlantic Strike will drive significant transformation over the next four years, subject to resource allocation through the Defence Investment Plan.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the full scope of the Royal Navy’s Atlantic Shield concept.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
This Government remains firmly committed to the objectives set out in the Strategic Defence Review. The Royal Navy Warfighting Ready Plan 2029 provides an ambitious and strategic blueprint for how the Navy with strengthen and evolve its capabilities in line with the Strategic Defence Review, in order to fulfil its role to protect the nation and its interests at a time of growing maritime threat and technological advancement. Atlantic Shield and Strike form part of the Royal Navy Warfighting Ready Plan.
Atlantic Shield and Atlantic Strike will drive significant transformation over the next four years, subject to resource allocation through the Defence Investment Plan.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has he made in delivering the cobalt autonomy stack for the Royal Navy.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Under Atlantic Bastion, announced in the Strategic Defence Review, the Royal Navy will be exploiting new technologies through a portfolio of crewed and uncrewed vehicles, sensors and nodes. The Cobalt Autonomy Stack acts as an autonomy and mission control layer, sitting above a fleet of mixed assets and connecting their sensors and effectors.
The Atlantic Bastion capability options submitted for consideration in the Defence Investment Plan include a blend of uncrewed systems, underwater payloads, options to increase lethality, and improvements to crewed platforms which are consistent with the transition to a Hybrid Navy.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, following the selection of the Leonardo AW149 as the British Army New Medium Helicopter, a) how many platforms will be purchased, in b) how many tranches and c) over what delivery timeline.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
A formal decision on the New Medium Helicopter (NMH) competition has not yet been made. The second stage of the NMH competition commenced on 27 February 2024 with the release of the Invitation to Negotiate to Airbus Helicopters UK, Leonardo Helicopters UK and Lockheed Martin UK.
Only Leonardo Helicopters UK elected to submit a tender which has been evaluated but since the competitive procurement process is still active, commercially sensitive information, including aircraft numbers, delivery timeline and value, cannot be confirmed.
Officials continue to consider the NMH business case as part of the Government’s approval process, with a decision to be made as part of the upcoming Defence Investment Plan.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, following the selection of the Leonardo AW149 as the British Army New Medium Helicopter, what is the total value and size of the contract.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
A formal decision on the New Medium Helicopter (NMH) competition has not yet been made. The second stage of the NMH competition commenced on 27 February 2024 with the release of the Invitation to Negotiate to Airbus Helicopters UK, Leonardo Helicopters UK and Lockheed Martin UK.
Only Leonardo Helicopters UK elected to submit a tender which has been evaluated but since the competitive procurement process is still active, commercially sensitive information, including aircraft numbers, delivery timeline and value, cannot be confirmed.
Officials continue to consider the NMH business case as part of the Government’s approval process, with a decision to be made as part of the upcoming Defence Investment Plan.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, following the decommissioning of HMS Lancaster, how many frigates are (a) in service and (b) undergoing maintenance with the Royal Navy.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Following the decommissioning of HMS Lancaster, the Royal Navy will have seven frigates in service, one frigate (HMS KENT) is currently undergoing planned deep maintenance. New Type 26 and Type 31 frigates are in build in Scotland currently.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the SG-1 Fathom will be brought into service.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Under Atlantic Bastion, announced in the Strategic Defence Review, the Royal Navy (RN) will be exploiting new technologies through a portfolio of crewed and uncrewed vehicles, sensors and nodes.
Helsing, who make the SG-1 Fathom, conducted a technology demonstration for the RN in December 2025. The Royal Navy are running a competition for Atlantic Net, which is the first phase of Atlantic Bastion, and in full adherence to commercial regulation, will conduct a fair and transparent assessment against peer proposals ahead of any contract award.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many soldiers were hospitalised or received hearing-related injuries in relation to the Ajax programme since 23 July 2025.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Since 23 July 2025, centrally held electronic systems show fewer than five personnel have had a hospital admission recorded since their first use of Ajax. None of these were related to Ajax, hearing or vibration.
In the same period, 27 personnel have had a hearing loss related read code entered into their electronic medical record since their first use of Ajax. However, the presence of read code does not imply either a long-term problem or that it has been caused by their use of Ajax. For any Service person their use of Ajax will be mixed with other potential sources of exposure. It is also possible that symptoms are not occupationally related.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth (CP 1388), page 85, what progress he has made in establishing a coordinating authority for market engagement within the National Armaments Director Group.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We have taken the first steps to deliver the Defence Industrial Strategy commitment to strengthen early engagement with industry and integrate market insight into force and capability development. The Market Engagement Coordinating Authority has been initiated within the National Armaments Director Group and is now in its development phase. Work is underway to build out its full capability, with Initial Operating Capability planned for Q1 2026. Once operational, the Authority will bring coherence and transparency to Defence’s engagement with industry, unify Defence’s demand signals and enable structured engagement earlier in the capability development cycle, giving suppliers confidence to invest and helping accelerate acquisition.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many settlements for (a) bullying, (b) harassment, (c) discrimination, (d) physical and sexual abuse and (e) assault did his Department make in 2024-2025.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This answer covers employment tribunal settlements and common law compensation claim settlements.
For employment tribunal settlements, in some cases, it has been necessary to categorise harassment and discrimination together, where the claimant has alleged complaints of both within the same claim form.
Bullying: nil
Harassment and discrimination: seven settlements
Discrimination: six settlements
Physical and sexual abuse: nil
Assault: nil
For claims, the answer reflects settlement of common law compensation claims against the Ministry of Defence where bullying, harassment or discrimination, sexual harassment or sexual abuse and physical abuse or assault are the main causes of action. Settlements have been defined as claims where both compensation and claimant legal costs have settled. Given the way such claims are categorised and recorded, it is not possible to separate between bullying, harassment and discrimination. Sexual harassment and sexual abuse are categorised together, as are physical abuse and assault.
Bullying, harassment and discrimination: Eight settlements
Sexual harassment and sexual abuse: 12 settlements
Physical abuse and assault: Fewer than five settlements
This answer does not include any settlement of damages in 2024-2025 where legal costs have not been finalised. Numbers fewer than five are not provided in order to reduce the possible inadvertent disclosure of claimant identities.
Both the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) and War Pensions Scheme (WPS) are no-fault schemes to pay compensation for injuries, illness or death caused or made worse by service. Awards are granted for injuries/illnesses/deaths and not specific events within their service. Identifying if the claimant has stated their injuries/illnesses/deaths were suffered as a result of clinical negligence would exceed the appropriate cost limit as it would require a manual file search of every claim file.
The Raising Our Standards Programme, launched in September 2024, is driving vital cultural change through improved education, training, reporting systems, and trust in leadership. We are strengthening reporting pathways to ensure employees feel safe to report and challenge behaviours. For non-criminal complaints, the MyComplaints App enables Service and Civil Servant personnel to raise issues outside their chain of command. The forthcoming Tri-service Complaints Unit will handle the most serious cases of bullying, harassment and discrimination.
Together, these initiatives create a culture where victim-survivors are supported through every route they choose, empowering them with autonomy and confidence. This commitment underpins a safer, more respectful environment for all personnel.