Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled Royal Navy warships to be boosted with new cutting-edge launchers, published on 26 March 2024, how many trainable decoy launchers are being purchased.

A total of 38 trainable decoy launchers will be installed across 19 Royal Navy surface ships on the Type 45 Destroyers and on the Type 26 and Type 31 Frigates.

The new decoy launchers form part of the Electronic Warfare Counter-Measures programme and will involve an incremental approach to the capability delivery. The programme’s detailed delivery plans have still to be developed; the in-service delivery date for the programme will be formally agreed at the appropriate approvals point.