Unmanned Air Systems: Finance

(asked on 8th July 2025) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Government press release entitled Major £5 billion technology investment accelerates UK defence innovation in a European first, published on 2 June 2025, what percentage of the £4 billion to be spent on drones in this parliament will be spent on (a) reconnaissance, (b) logistics, (c) FPV and (d) long-range one-way attack drones.


Answered by
Maria Eagle Portrait
Maria Eagle
Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This question was answered on 11th July 2025

The Strategic Defence Review recommends that an immediate priority for force transformation should be a shift towards greater use of autonomy and Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the UK's conventional forces. Uncrewed and autonomous systems will be incorporated into the Integrated Force in high numbers over the next five years as part of a 'high-low' mix of capabilities whether undersea, at sea, on land, or over land. Exact numbers and investment apportioned to these systems will be determined as part of the Defence Investment Plan.

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