Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Major defence reforms launched, with new National Armaments Director to tackle waste and boost industry, published on 25 October 2024, what the rank of the National Armaments Director will be.

The National Armaments Director (NAD) will be a Senior Civil Servant appointment.

Currently the Chief Executive Officer of Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) acts as the UK representative that is responsible for ensuring DE&S delivers the right equipment in line with NATO Conference of NAD (CNAD) requirements. Apart from continuing to be the UK representative on several NATO boards, all other responsibilities of the role will be new.

Recruitment of the future NAD is ongoing, and we expect to invite applications shortly. Details of the new NAD duties and responsibilities and the associated renumeration package will be available in the job description once published.