Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has contingency plans in place to respond to mass drone incursions, in the context of drone incursions in Ukraine and Poland.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The UK is committed to defending every inch of NATO territory, including our contribution of Typhoon jets to defend Polish airspace as part of NATO’s Eastern Sentry. NATO is more united than ever as we continue to work closely to support Ukraine and defend the alliance’s territory. The Defence Secretary recently confirmed that we will be extending our contribution to Eastern Sentry until the end of 2025. Over the past 18 months, the RAF has also conducted routine deployments of Typhoons to both Poland and Romania to protect NATO airspace.
In the UK, RAF fighter jets at RAF Coningsby and RAF Lossiemouth are held at continuous high readiness 24/7, 365 days a year, to protect UK sovereign airspace. They routinely launch to intercept unidentified aircraft flying in the UK’s area of interest as part of NATO’s air policing mission.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the feasibility of equipping UK forces with improvised anti-drone vehicles using mounted machine guns and spotlights.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence continually monitors the threat posed to the UK. Integrated Air and Missile Defence, including the countering of the threat posed by Uncrewed Air Systems, will be prioritised appropriately as part of the future Integrated Force. Delivery of the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including investment in homeland Integrated Air and Missile Defence, will be laid out in the Defence Investment Plan due to be published later this year. The Department is reviewing all options for the manufacture and deployment of anti-drone systems.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers have been consulted on the potential to manufacture mobile anti-drone platforms for domestic defence.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence continually monitors the threat posed to the UK. Integrated Air and Missile Defence, including the countering of the threat posed by Uncrewed Air Systems, will be prioritised appropriately as part of the future Integrated Force. Delivery of the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including investment in homeland Integrated Air and Missile Defence, will be laid out in the Defence Investment Plan due to be published later this year. The Department is reviewing all options for the manufacture and deployment of anti-drone systems.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that air defence systems are equipped to respond to (a) cost-asymmetric threats and (b) drone swarms.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence continually monitors the threat posed to the UK. Integrated Air and Missile Defence, including the countering of the threat posed by Uncrewed Air Systems, will be prioritised appropriately as part of the future Integrated Force. Delivery of the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including investment in homeland Integrated Air and Missile Defence, will be laid out in the Defence Investment Plan due to be published later this year. The Department is reviewing all options for the manufacture and deployment of anti-drone systems.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of deploying mobile, low-cost anti-drone units.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence continually monitors the threat posed to the UK. Integrated Air and Missile Defence, including the countering of the threat posed by Uncrewed Air Systems, will be prioritised appropriately as part of the future Integrated Force. Delivery of the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including investment in homeland Integrated Air and Missile Defence, will be laid out in the Defence Investment Plan due to be published later this year. The Department is reviewing all options for the manufacture and deployment of anti-drone systems.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions the UK has had with NATO allies on the sustainability of air defence ammunition stocks in the event of prolonged drone-based conflict.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK has regular and ongoing discussions with NATO allies on the sustainability of air defence ammunition stocks. This includes through the NATO Conference National Armament Directors (CNAD), which held an extraordinary meeting on air and missile defence on 23 January 2025, and the NATO Defence Industrial Production Board, which is currently addressing how we increase industrial capacity in Surface-Based Air and Missile Defence. The UK is also encouraging allies to consolidate future buys of air defence ammunition and support increased production capacity through our NATO Multinational Procurement Initiatives and NATO’s Reoccurring Process for Aggregating Demand Signal (REPEAD). The UK remains committed to working closely with NATO allies to ensure the sustainability of air defence ammunition stocks and to address the challenges posed by evolving threats, including drone-based warfare. The Government will continue to prioritise this issue and work with Allies to ensure that NATO remains prepared to respond to current and future security challenges.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of low-cost drone swarms on (a) military and (b) civilian infrastructure.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Department is aware of the threat posed by low-cost drones to military and civilian infrastructure. the Ministry of Defence supports the Home Office in its national response to this. The Strategic Defence Review announced an investment of £1 billion to enhance our homeland air and missile defence.
This investment will be prioritised appropriately as part of the future Integrated Force. Work to deliver the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including on all aspects of the Integrated Air and Missile Defence, will be set out in the Defence Investment Plan to be published this year.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to protect national security in the context of the AQUIND interconnector project.
Answered by Maria Eagle
Aquind's application for a development consent order in respect of their proposed project is subject to an ongoing re-determination process led by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, to which the Ministry of Defence is contributing.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent high-skilled jobs from moving to Europe in the context of the potential closure of the Airbus Portsmouth site.
Answered by Maria Eagle
His Majesty’s Government (HMG) is working to ensure that the UK remains a leading hub for the global space sector and as a destination for the talent which is required to continue to develop the industry. HMG is engaging with Airbus to understand its consolidation plans, and any decisions relating to the size and structure of Airbus' workforce are a matter for the company.