Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the UK's capability to manufacture defence equipment such as ballistic protection, battlefield electronics and military aviation in the light of disruption to the acrylonitrile and high performance carbon fibre supply chain caused by the Iran conflict.

The Government’s Defence Industrial Strategy prioritises building a more resilient UK industrial base. This includes strengthening critical supply chains that underpin defence, to ensure the delivery of critical defence outputs and to keep the UK safe and secure.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is actively engaged in de-risking critical defence supply chain vulnerabilities, working collaboratively with industry and our international partners to mitigate risks by better understanding our dependencies on a range of critical raw materials, including chemicals, used in the manufacturing of equipment for our Armed Forces.

We monitor threats to critical pinch points in our supply chains, including the potential impact of the Iran war, to enable us to make informed decisions around how and if to intervene.

MOD is actively engaged in the cross-government response to the Iran conflict and is continually assessing the potential impact on defence supply chains, particularly around fuel price increases and shipping disruption. Currently, the MOD assesses there has been no significant impact on the ability of the UK to manufacture defence equipment, but this will be kept under close review if the conflict continues.