The Hybrid Navy Integrated Air and Missile Defence capability will replace the current fleet of six Type 45 destroyers. While the Common Combat Vessel (CCV) remains in the initial stages of design, the Royal Navy’s aspiration is to sequence the arrival of the CCV and wider Hybrid Navy Integrated Air and Missile Defence capability with the out of service dates of the Type 45s in the mid-2030s onwards.

No payments are due under the terms of the UK-Mauritius agreement until the Treaty has been ratified.

This Government has ended the underfunding and hollowing out of our Armed Forces that we inherited from the last administration.

Backed by £298 billion of investment over the next four years, the Defence Investment Plan will deliver a step change in capability, transforming our Armed Forces and realising the vision set out in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review.

We have not waited for the publication of the Defence Investment Plan to take action. Since July 2024, we have awarded more than 1,400 defence contracts, with 94% of their total value going to UK-based businesses, strengthening our defence industrial base and supporting jobs and growth across the country. Last year alone, we spent more than £31 billion with UK industry – an above inflation increase in spending.

As set out in the Department's announcement of 1 April 2026, the United Kingdom and France agreed to establish a Joint Complex Weapons Portfolio Office. Work is progressing with the French Government to define, sequence and implement the most efficient arrangements required to support future UK-France Complex Weapons cooperation.

The UK MOD has an established policy for addressing Intellectual Property (IP), and all MOD projects are expected to set out a clear IP Strategy to ensure that IP is adequately protected, whilst securing maximum impact for our armed forces and value for money for the taxpayer.

The MOD will apply this policy to AI projects in the following ways:

1. Where AI technology is developed in-house by MOD research establishments, the IP in that technology will be owned by MOD and will be appropriately protected. Subject to any national security constraints, dual-use technology will be considered for exploitation in the wider economy, including through engagement with MOD’s wholly owned technology transfer company Ploughshare.

2. Where AI technology is developed by contractors on MOD’s behalf, our general policy is to leave the ownership of that technology with the contractors concerned, as they are best placed to pursue the commercial exploitation of that technology in other fields. MOD will take appropriate user rights in that technology to ensure that it can be fully exploited by our armed forces, and, subject to national security concerns, will encourage Industry to further exploit dual-use technology with other customers for the benefit of the wider economy.

Taskforce RAID is taking steps to deliver advantage in denied and degraded environments by improving our understanding of how adversaries operate in the electromagnetic environment, and by strengthening the UK’s ability to counter that activity. This work will support a real-time understanding of the electromagnetic environment, drawing on information from multiple sources to help deliver operational effect at a time and place of the UK’s choosing.

The UK has met the NATO 1.5% commitment on security and resilience, reflecting investment across civil-military capability, resilience, industrial capacity, stockpiles and support to partners.

Under the NATO definition, investment in defence infrastructure and capabilities is core defence spend. The Defence Investment Plan has set out investments over the next 10 years, including £51 billion earmarked for the Defence estate; modernising critical airbase and airfield capabilities and delivering the biggest naval upgrade for 45 years.

The Defence Investment Plan has set out how we will be investing over £76 billion on people and veterans over the next four years, including £4.2 billion on the reserves.

Individual annual settlements will be subject to planning cycles.

This government has increased military drone and autonomous system spending as part of the £298 billion Defence Investment Plan.

The Defence Investment Plan allocated over £5 billion to military drone and autonomous systems, increasing spending from £4 billion to £5 billion over the next four years. This will cover programmes across the Maritime, Land, and Air domains to support the transformation of our Armed Forces, and includes a multitude of capabilities, ranging from the Hybrid Naval Fleet to One-Way Attack Drones.

The Defence Investment Plan provides full funding for the recommendations set out in the Strategic Defence Review. The Government accepted all of the Review’s recommendations, and significant progress has already been made in delivering them, including the establishment of the Military Intelligence Service and the publication of the Defence Diplomacy Strategy.

The Defence Investment Plan outlines how Defence will outpace threats through sustained investment in warfighting readiness, the rapid introduction of new capabilities, and the integration of advanced and emerging technologies across the force. This requires a model of constant innovation and there is therefore no end state for the Integrated Force.

Evidence gathered through force testing events, as well as lessons identified from contemporary conflicts, will ensure we constantly evaluate the impact of changing technology on our force design and the threat trajectory of our adversaries. The Secretary of State will receive an annual statement detailing how the integrated force model has changed in response to ensure accountability for the continual adaptation of the Integrated Force over time.

This Government has taken difficult but necessary choices to prioritise capability that reflects modern warfare, ensuring resources are focused on what will deliver advantage in the years ahead.

The Ministry of Defence will only start new capability work on a specified and prioritised list of investments at the point each capability is demonstrably affordable and deliverable within its overall budget as assessed by the Principal Accounting Officer. The prioritised list of projects is classified, and therefore will not be made publicly available.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided to Question 122757 on 30 April 2026 which sets out the Government's position on this matter. As referred to in Question 122757 the Defence Investment Plan is both a government document and plan.

Through NATO defence industrial and armaments forums, and bilateral meetings, the United Kingdom regularly engages with Allies on reducing unnecessary barriers to defence trade and industrial cooperation, including export control processes, technology transfer arrangements, standardisation, and interoperability requirements. In the Ankara Summit Declaration Allies reaffirmed their commitment to continue work to eliminate defence trade barriers and strengthen defence industrial cooperation.

The commitments announced at the NATO meeting in Ankara are reflected the Defence Investment Plan and are already part of the UK's future defence spending plans.

The Strategic Defence Review recognises the growing importance of autonomy and uncrewed systems in modern warfare and supports the increased adoption of these technologies across Defence. However, the UK remains committed to the responsible use of military capabilities and retains appropriate human involvement in decisions on the use of force. The Review does not provide for weapons systems operating outside the UK's established legal, ethical and policy frameworks.

The Defence Investment Plan sets out Defence’s planned investment in the capabilities, infrastructure and industrial capacity required to deliver the outcomes of the Strategic Defence Review. The Plan focuses on Defence expenditure.

Defence works closely with other government departments to support wider national security objectives. Normal government fiscal and departmental processes reflect cross-government spending arrangements.

The Defence Investment Plan is backed by a Ministry of Defence budget totalling £298 billion over the next four years and sets out over £180 billion of investment in the integrated force across all domains, including £5 billion on drones.

Individual annual settlements across domains, and the programmes and platform within them, will be subject to future planning cycles.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, MOD Ministers and officials have maintained a continuous dialogue across government, the private sector, and with Ukrainian counterparts to enable UK industry to collaborate on and support Ukraine’s highest priorities.

The National Audit Office report in September 2024 on UK support to Ukraine recognised the speed, innovation and collaboration shown by MOD in equipping and supporting Ukraine. The changes we are making to our procurement rules are similarly increasing the speed of procurement for our own armed forces.

Our bilateral arrangements with Ukraine facilitate the exchange of battlefield technology, the co-development of cutting-edge military capability and the creation of new intellectual property, all of which will be reinforced by the UK defence business centre about to open in Kyiv to provide UK companies, particularly SMEs, greater access to Ukraine’s military challenges and Ukrainian industry.

Project CORVUS aims to provide a replacement to the Army’s Watchkeeper Uncrewed Aerial System, which is being retired from service with an Out of Service Date of March 2027.

Project CORVUS is subject to ongoing competition, and it would therefore be inappropriate to provide further detail at this stage.