Written question asked by Sarah Bool (Conservative) on Thursday, 10 July 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 14 July 2025. It was answered by Luke Pollard (Labour) on Friday, 18 July 2025 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Cyber & Specialist Operations Command

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of implementing a reserve-style service as part of the Cyber and Specialist Operations Command.

Answer: SDR 2025 directs that “the future Cyber & EM Force should be a whole force endeavour, drawing heavily on reserves and civilians where expertise lies”. The future Cyber & EM Forces will be part of the Cyber & Specialist Operations Command. Planning to date is drawing heavily on our experience of using specialist cyber reserves and will seek to expand opportunities for reserve-style service; this is likely to include increasing the number of cyber specialist reserves, adjusting forms of military service (including expanding the Cyber Direct Entry scheme), and partnering differently with industry to leverage skills & capacity in wider workforce.

Secondary information