Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of cuts to the defence budget on projects to upgrade armoured vehicles in the UK armed forces.

The Government is committed to increase the defence budget by at least 0.5% above inflation in every year of this Parliament. The MOD has a £38 billion core defence budget which will rise to almost £40 billion by 2020/21. Following the October 2018 budget announcement Defence will now benefit from an additional £1 billion for this year and next. The extra £1 billion for defence, on top of the £800 million increase announced in March 2018, represents a substantial financial boost for Defence and reaffirms our commitment to protecting national security and allows us to invest in priorities.

We will maintain the overall size of the Armed Forces, including an Army that is capable of fielding a war-fighting division. We are committed to spending over £186 billion on equipment and equipment support between 2018 and 2028. Army Command plan to spend around £30.2 billion on the Army's Equipment over the next decade in comparison to £29 billion at the end of the previous planning cycle. This includes upgrading our Armoured Vehicles.