Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of the level of readiness of UK armed forces equipment.

The Government has recognised the need to improve warfighting readiness in response to a deteriorating global security environment. The Defence Investment Plan sets out a decade-long programme of investment and transformation to equip the Armed Forces for modern warfare and begin improving readiness across Defence. It includes an additional £15 billion on top of the previous Spending Review settlement, with the majority of this additional day-to-day funding directed towards activities such as training and improving the availability of ships and aircraft to increase warfighting readiness.

The Ministry of Defence continually assesses the readiness and availability of military equipment to ensure that the Armed Forces are able to meet current and emerging operational commitments. I hope the Hon Member will understand that for reasons of operational security, the Department does not comment on the readiness profiles or availability of specific military capabilities.