Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, will the £220m for armed autonomous drones in Project NYX deliver 24 drones in total or for each AH-64E Apache.

Project NYX represents the cutting edge of the Defence Industrial Strategy, working with leading British industry partners to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of autonomous military technology. The Defence Investment Plan provides funding for a total of up to 24 autonomous drones by 2030.

As Project NYX is currently in the concept and demonstration phase no decision has yet been taken on the size of any future departmental fleet of autonomous systems to augment AH-64E Apache beyond 2030. This will be informed by the outcome of the demonstration phase, which is expected to conclude in 2028.