Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress he has made on implementing the Strategic Defence Review.

The Government has made significant progress on Strategic Defence Review (SDR) implementation since it was published last June. Examples include:

CyberEM Command: The Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Force (DCEM Force) was established on time and is now up and running, within the Cyber and Specialist Operations Command (November 2025). SDR Rec 51

MIS and DCIU: The Military Intelligence Services and Defence Counter-Intelligence Unit were launched on time, as part of major overhaul of Defence’s intelligence organisations amid increasing threats to the UK and to keep Britain ahead of hostile states and terrorists (December 25). SDR Rec 54 and 56

Nuclear deterrence: The Prime Minister announced at the NATO Hague Summit (June 2025) that the UK will purchase 12 new F-35A fighter jets and join NATO’s dual capable aircraft nuclear mission. SDR Rec 30

Atlantic Bastion: The UK’s groundbreaking Atlantic Bastion programme was unveiled (December 2025), which will make Britain more secure from Russian undersea threats in the North Atlantic through a transformation of the Royal Navy and its submarine-hunting capabilities into an advanced hybrid force. SDR vision: Hybrid Navy

UKDI: UK Defence Innovation was launched (July 2025) to streamline the delivery of innovation technology to Armed Forces personnel through rapid investment, with an annual budget of £400 million.

Defence Exports: The UK Defence and Security Exports function was transferred from Department for Business and Trade to MOD (July 2025); all staff have completed their migration to MOD systems. 2025 was the highest year for UK Defence exports in 40 years including landmark deals with Norway, worth £10 billion (T26 frigates; Aug 25), and Türkiye, worth £8 billion (Typhoons; October 2025). SDR Rec 12

DIS: The Defence Industrial Strategy was published (September 2025) to take forward the SDR’s vision for radical reforms, growth, innovation, industrial resilience and warfighting readiness – backed by nearly £800 million this parliament. SDR Rec 3 and 8

Always on munitions: Defence announced a new programme to build factories of the future (November 2025) with at least 13 potential sites identified to manufacture munitions and explosives in the UK to create an always on capability. This is backed by £1.5 billion of new investment in this parliament and creating over 1,000 British jobs. SDR Rec 29

Housing: The Defence Housing Strategy 2025 (November 2025) set out £9 billion of investment over the next decade to upgrade 40,000 Forces’ family homes. An ambitious programme of work to urgently fix 1,000 military homes was completed ahead of schedule (December 2025). The programme of housing improvements, known as Raising the Minimum Standards, has seen significant work take place at service family homes across the UK. Legislation to establish a specialist arm’s length defence housing service is in the Armed Forces Bill, now in the Commons. SDR Rec 60

Gap Year: Plans to launch the new Armed Forces ‘Gap Year’ Foundation Scheme were announced (December 2025) to give young people in the UK new opportunities to experience military service. SDR Rec 16