Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of kinetic drones in the armed forces.

Sixteen Protector aircraft have now been ordered from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and are expected to enter service with the RAF by mid-2024, doubling the capability currently provided by Reaper. Protector's Certified Ground Control Stations, will be located at RAF Waddington operating the aircraft remotely, enabling greater flexibility and timely responses for worldwide deployments.

Under the LANCA Programme, the RAF Rapid Capabilities Office will continue to pursue the RAF's plans to integrate uncrewed platforms into its future fleet. Future procurement decisions will be made in accordance with existing departmental capability planning processes.

The Ukraine Innovation Fund has also generated a number of interesting future prospects which the MOD will also closely review.