Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support the development of UK-made drone defence systems to protect critical national infrastructure.

The UK has procured advanced Counter-Uncrewed Aerial System (C-UAS) capabilities from UK manufacturers which continue to be developed in response to the changing threat.

The MOD regularly engages with subject matter experts, including DASA, DSTL, and UK industry partners, to conduct thematic C-UAS capability challenges. These challenges promote the development of C-UAS systems by British companies.

In the last two years, the MOD has invested in the development of Directed Energy Weapons, the development teams for which are led by UK consortiums.

All C-UAS systems that are currently in use or in development support a range of possible scenarios and user cases, including the protection of critical national infrastructure.