Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the progress of the Ground Based Air Defence programme.

The Land Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) programme strives to modernise Defence’s ground-based air defence capabilities in the face of rapidly developing threats and is a high priority for the Army. This includes the development of an integrated layered air defence system comprising countering Small Air Targets, Short and Medium Range Air Defence.

The programme is now working towards an Initial Operating Capability of Medium Range Air Defence for warfighting by July 2026. This includes two Surface-to-Air Missile Operations Centres, and two enhanced Wireless Enabled Network sets. By June 2027, a further 800 Thales (Belfast) lightweight multi role missiles (LMM) will also be procured.

The programme has begun to deliver Counter-Uncrewed Aerial Systems (C-UAS) capability for dismounted close combat forces, albeit in relatively low numbers. The focus is now switching to higher level UAS detect and non-kinetic systems, and upgrades to vehicle mounted weapon systems to enable them to engage UAS.