Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 75 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, if he will make an assessment of the lessons learned from the first joint wargame undertaken by his Department with industry.

Wargaming, such as the December 2024 Industry Wargame, helps the Ministry of Defence, industry, and wider society identify and address risks, enhancing operational resilience and ensuring mission continuity in contested environments. The exercise yielded critical insights across multiple areas essential for surging capacity and scaling to full warfighting readiness. Achieving this requires strengthening strategic collaboration with industry and international partners, alongside further developing enablers such as appropriate legislation, financial frameworks, specialist skills development, and digital transformation.

Considerable progress is already underway, including work on a Defence Readiness Bill, the formation of a dedicated scenario planning and modelling capability, accelerated digital system upgrades for secure information sharing, and cross-Government efforts to access vital defence skills.