Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Royal Navy trial high-tech autonomous mine hunting capability, published on 10 December 2024, what is the in service date of the Apollo Maritime Counter Measure vessel.

The Maritime Mine Counter Measure programme remains on track to deliver initial operational capability in line with Royal Navy requirements. The first vessel is expected to enter service in early 2026.

RNMB APOLLO was on trials and evaluation with the Royal Navy from 2021-2025 and has been returned to the manufacturer for maintenance and critical system updates, as part of its capability development phase, and is due to enter service later next year.