Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment has he made of the UK's icebreaker ship strength to protect UK interests in the Arctic.

As the Defence Command paper made clear, the High North and maintaining security in the defence of the North Atlantic remains of great importance to the UK.

The Royal Navy has the capability to project force using a variety of assets in the High North and Arctic, dependent on the location, season and threat, including Littoral capabilities. It has one purpose-built Ice Patrol Ship (HMS Protector) and two ice strengthened survey vessels (HMS Echo and HMS Enterprise).

As announced in the 2021 Defence Command Paper, we will develop a new Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance capability to better understand the High North underwater environment, protect our underwater CNI and improve our ability to detect threats in the North Atlantic. The Defence Command Paper also announced major investments in a new generation of Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates and support shipping, enabling us to project UK forces into the High North and Arctic, and ensuring our freedom to operate in the North Atlantic.

The UK Defence Contribution in the High North will outline the range of capabilities the UK has and is developing to ensure we continue to be able to protect UK interests in this key region.