Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to move away from over-exquisite design in the context of the procurement of new capability.

The Ministry of Defence is reforming its acquisition system to deliver defence capabilities at greater pace and secure the best possible value for money.

Central to this is the creation of a National Armaments Director to ensure our Armed Forces are properly equipped to defend Britain, to build up the British defence industry, and to reduce waste. A key element of this role is to harmonise procurement, working closely with wider Government, industry, academia, and international partners to deploy best practice and optimise investment.

We are engaging industry earlier in the procurement process to ensure requirements for new capabilities are informed by what the market can offer and with consideration of the potential for exports.

Through Spiral acquisition we will deliver a minimum deployable capability to the front line more rapidly - based on what is readily available from the supply chains or quickly adaptable from existing capabilities - then iterate to adapt quickly to a changing environment to meet the needs of our Armed Forces and other customers.