Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking in order to reduce cannibalism of equipment in the Armed Forces.

Cannibalisation or the use of fit parts for repairable equipment, is a recognised Defence practice for satisfying a material demand with a required delivery date and has been in place for decades in the Armed Forces. It is only used when all other sources of supply have been explored and is essential to protecting the operational programmes of the Armed Forces..

For the Army, cannibalisation, is an extreme option that may only be authorised by the operational Equipment Support Commander in order to support priority missions.