Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to Ministry of Defence test ranges for (a) small and medium-sized enterprises and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises without a sponsor from his Department.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) make a vital contribution to economic growth and are a valuable source of technical innovation in defence. This is recognised in the Defence Industrial Strategy Statement of Intent, as well as the Department’s Social Value policies.

Small and medium-sized enterprises can apply to use many Ministry of Defence (MOD) test ranges through the Test, Trials, Training and Evaluation (T3E) Service (https://www.t3e.uk/en/) managed on behalf of the MOD by QinetiQ. This includes enterprises that do not have a MOD sponsor.

As part of the Defence Industrial Strategy and MOD’s Test and Evaluation Transformation programme, the Department is reviewing how best to support SMEs with access to relevant test facilities, including MOD and commercially run test ranges available to UK companies.