Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has budgeted for the replacement of HMS Protector.

We inherited plans to run an HMS Protector with no plan to replace her. We felt this was unsustainable so the Defence Investment Plan sets out our intention to replace HMS Protector with a more modern vessel variant. Work is ongoing, under Project Shakleton, to determine the exact timing and approach which will be taken to meet this intent.