Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 33 of the SDR, what progress he has made on being optimised for warfare against a peer military state since the publication of the SDR.

The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) set a vision for the next decade and beyond, over which the Armed Forces will be transformed to deliver a more lethal and digitally-enabled Integrated Force. The Defence Investment Plan (DIP) reaffirmed the Department’s commitment to providing greater options for deterrence and retaliation to aggression and sets out the Government’s focus on increasing the readiness and lethality of our Armed Forces.

The Government is taking a broad programme of action to improve the readiness, lethality, and survivability of the Armed Forces. Through the DIP, we are investing £298 billion over the next four years to rebuild warfighting readiness, deliver the Strategic Defence Review, and develop a “NATO First” Integrated Force.

Our investments within the Integrated Force have been tailored to include lessons learned from recent and ongoing conflicts, focusing on capabilities that will counter emerging threats to our Armed Forces and the UK. The DIP also secures funding for critical warfighting enabling capabilities, such as our previously underfunded infrastructure and to develop UK Defence Industry capacity. These combined efforts will allow us to deter threats through our warfighting readiness and sustain forces deployed on operations.