Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Oral Statement on 26 March 2025 entitled Spring Statement, Official Report, whether any programmes in existence prior to 26 March 2025 will be included in the 10% committed to be spent on novel technologies from the MOD equipment budget.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Work to deliver the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including directing at least 10% of our equipment procurement annually on novel technologies, which will be set out in the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan.
That will include a mixture a significant number of existing defence programmes which are already at the cutting edge, as well as new initiatives like directed energy weapons, AI and autonomous platforms.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January to Question 107727 on Unmanned Air Systems: Higher Education, how many of the (a) civilians and (b) soldiers enrolled on the undergraduate drone degree does he expect to participate on the British Army's small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems training pathways.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Centralised training in small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (sUAS) is delivered by the Land Warfare Centre, with distributed training subsequently provided by individual units within the Field Army.
As of February 2026, 282 personnel are currently participating in the British Army’s centralised sUAS training pathways. Exact figures for those currently undertaking distributed training are not available as these figures are not held centrally.
Looking ahead, we have currently made available 915 spaces for centralised training and expect around 2,000 personnel to undertake distributed training in future financial years.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the specified operational locations which qualify service personnel to receive the Operational Allowance.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Service personnel on deployed operations in the following Specified Operational Locations qualify for the payment of Operational Allowance:
Chad (all locations)
Egypt (Sinai only)
Iraq (all locations)
Mali (all locations)
Somalia (all locations)
South Sudan (all locations)
Democratic Republic of Congo (Goma only)
Lebanon (Naquora only)
Lebanon (Beirut only) – backdated for period 6 September 2024 to 27 November 2024 only
Red Sea (within operational areas) – backdated to 23 May 2025
I am withholding the names of some locations for the purpose of safeguarding national security, as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel will participate in the British Army's small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems training pathways in each remaining financial year of the current Parliament.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Centralised training in small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (sUAS) is delivered by the Land Warfare Centre, with distributed training subsequently provided by individual units within the Field Army.
As of February 2026, 282 personnel are currently participating in the British Army’s centralised sUAS training pathways. Exact figures for those currently undertaking distributed training are not available as these figures are not held centrally.
Looking ahead, we have currently made available 915 spaces for centralised training and expect around 2,000 personnel to undertake distributed training in future financial years.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel are currently participating in the British Army's small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems training pathways.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Centralised training in small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (sUAS) is delivered by the Land Warfare Centre, with distributed training subsequently provided by individual units within the Field Army.
As of February 2026, 282 personnel are currently participating in the British Army’s centralised sUAS training pathways. Exact figures for those currently undertaking distributed training are not available as these figures are not held centrally.
Looking ahead, we have currently made available 915 spaces for centralised training and expect around 2,000 personnel to undertake distributed training in future financial years.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January to Question 108701 on Skynet: Procurement, when the Skynet 6A will complete the testing and validation phase.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Skynet 6 Programme continues to progress in support of Defence’s satellite communications requirements.
The testing and validation of Skynet 6A is expected to complete final acceptance activity by mid-2027, leading to issue of the Certificate of Acceptance.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the out of service date for Bowman.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
On current plans, Bowman's Out of Service Date will be no later than 2035, and no earlier than 2031.