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.

The UK is committed to deepening its defence industrial partnership with Ukraine, including by helping Ukrainian defence technology companies engage with UK industry, innovation networks, and potential routes to production, especially where these align with UK capability priorities and national security requirements.

The Ministry of Defence works across Government, including with the Department for Business and Trade, Task Force Kindred, DASA, Dstl and UK Defence Innovation, to connect Ukrainian companies with UK commercial, research, testing, and investment pathways. They also highlight trade opportunities, engage with Ukrainian government, military, and industry stakeholders, and support the navigation of operating and compliance requirements. Officials have engaged with representatives of the UK/EU-Ukraine Defence Innovation Corridor and provided advice on how that early-stage proposal could align with existing UK-Ukraine defence innovation activity.

The Ministry of Defence continues to identify and exploit defence and industrial collaboration opportunities with Ukraine. Under our 100-Year Partnership, we are establishing stronger and closer defence cooperation both on a governmental and industrial basis.

Through Programme LYRA, launched by the Prime Minister and President Zelenskyy in June 2025, we have facilitated co-production arrangements, including the development of new, shared, intellectual property and cutting-edge capability. The recent update to Ukraine's export control regime, earlier this month is welcomed.

Under our 100-Year Partnership we will build an enduring alliance between our two countries and deliver maximum benefit for both the UK and Ukraine's long-term security and prosperity.

UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) represents a fundamental transformation of how the Ministry of Defence (MOD) approaches innovation. We recognised that for too long, innovative companies and start-ups faced significant barriers when trying to engage with defence innovation programmes.

UKDI works closely with UK industry and academia, including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), to identify and invest in innovative technologies that address our most pressing capability challenges as well as publishing our future priorities to incentivise investment. We are transforming processes to drive this at pace and are already testing and deploying these technologies.

The Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) commits to significantly increasing SME participation and spending, recognising their critical role in strengthening capability and economic prosperity.

We have established a dedicated Office for Small Business Growth in January to remove barriers, improve access, and drive delivery against our SME ambitions across Defence.

The Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) highlights the need for an innovative defence industry that adapts to changing warfare by utilising data, software, procurement, exports, innovation, and R&D to promote UK science and emerging technologies, including clean technology.

Following on from the DIS and the Strategic Defence Review. UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) has been established to harness UK ingenuity and boost military technology, as part of the Government’s drive to turbocharge innovation in defence and deliver growth as part of the Plan for Change.

UKDI will be fully operational by July 2026 and will have a ringfenced budget of at least £400 million from financial year 2025-26 with the ambition for this to rise as UKDI becomes established.

The Ministry of Defence will evaluate progress by regularly reviewing defence spending data to measure the proportion allocated to emerging technologies, setting clear targets, and reporting on these metrics to ensure commitments made for this Parliament are met.

The Government has set out its ambition for the Ministry of Defence to spend at least 10% of its equipment procurement budget on novel technologies, including areas such as uncrewed and autonomous systems and AI-enabled capabilities. Work is currently ongoing across the Department, to develop the policy arrangements underpinning this commitment in order to support effective prioritisation, reporting and delivery. The formal framework, including the definition of novel technologies, will be finalised as part of the Defence Investment Plan which will set out Defence’s approach to delivering against this ambition.

The Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) makes clear that strengthening UK defence firms’ international competitiveness depends on working closely with our allies. It promotes deeper collaboration through co‑research, co‑development and co‑production, helping UK companies share costs, access larger markets and deliver interoperable capabilities.

The DIS emphasises closer alignment with NATO standards and allied procurement approaches, so UK firms can design once and export across multiple allied markets. It also embeds exportability from the outset of procurement and commits to clearer long‑term demand signals, giving UK industry the confidence to invest, innovate and compete successfully alongside allied firms.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has established UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) which represents a fundamental transformation of how the Ministry of Defence (MOD) approaches innovation.

Learning lessons from Ukraine as well as other international partners UKDI will act and operate differently, ruthlessly prioritising to focus on the areas with most potential, with significant freedoms to contract with speed, simplicity, and flexibility, harnessing and bolstering the competitiveness of the UK’s tech sector.

UKDI has established Regional and Devolved Authorities Engagement Teams across the UK to systematically identify and nurture dual-use innovation from SMEs, mid-tier companies, and academic spin-outs.

The core mission of the Regional and Devolved Authorities Engagement Teams is to deliver targeted outreach, support business development, foster supply chain collaboration, and accelerate the commercialisation of emerging technologies aligned with Defence and National Security priorities.

These teams will facilitate regional access to defence-focused loans, investors, and venture builder services, while gathering critical market intelligence for MOD and National Security stakeholders.

Since 2024 the MOD has run seven defence trade missions to Ukraine in conjunction with the Trade Association ADS. These have facilitated engagement for UK business of all sizes, but with a particular focus on SMEs, with Ukrainian industry and government. We will continue our support for business and create an enduring presence for UK industry in Kyiv through the establishment of a UK Business Centre, while working to develop capabilities alongside the Ukrainian defence ecosystem.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 31 March 2026 to Question 123249 to the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Holden).

The UK Armed Forces are drawing key lessons from Ukraine, particularly the need for a much faster ‘learn and adapt’ cycle to accelerate developments in our capabilities, doctrine, and tactics.

Lessons from both Ukraine and the Middle East are already being applied to deliver cost-effective air defence solutions for the UK and its partners. The Strategic Defence Review announced up to £1 billion for UK air and missile defence. Work to deliver the Strategic Defence Reviews recommendations, including on Integrated Air and Missile Defence, will be set out in the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan.

One of the key lessons for the Ministry of Defence from the war in Ukraine is the importance of pace and technical innovation in procurement if our Armed Forces are to retain an edge over, and therefore deter, our adversaries.

Ongoing reforms across the National Armaments Director (NAD) Group are putting these lessons into practice. For example, the new segmented approach to procurement tailors acquisition processes according to the type of capability, supplier and risk involved, speeding delivery. Similarly, the Accelerating Commercial Pathways and Commercial X programmes are reducing the time taken to complete commercial processes and get procurements on contract.

With the creation of UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) we have put innovation at the centre of defence procurement. With a ring-fenced budget, UKDI will ensure we are able to quickly acquire the cutting-edge capabilities our Armed Forces need to keep pace with the evolving nature of warfare.

The UK’s Armed Forces are learning much from the war in Ukraine, particularly the need for a much faster ‘learn and adapt’ cycle to accelerate developments in our capabilities, doctrine, and tactics. More broadly, the Strategic Defence Review considered all aspects of Defence, including the capabilities required by the UK to meet the challenges, threats, and opportunities of the twenty-first century.

Integrated Air and Missile Defence investments will be prioritised appropriately against the assessed threat picture as part of the future Integrated Force. Work to deliver the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including on Integrated Air and Missile Defence, drones and electromagnetic warfare will be set out in the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan.

Ministry of Defence officials met representatives of the UK/EU-Ukraine Defence Innovation Corridor in March 2026 and advised on how any proposal could best align with existing UK-Ukraine defence engagement. We will keep early‑stage initiatives under review.

Regarding helping UK companies exporting to Ukraine, building on our seventh and largest Trade Mission programme to Ukraine in March 2026; we are opening a Business Centre in Kyiv later this year, as we move to a permanent presence in Ukraine. This will help UK firms identify collaboration, partnership, and future export opportunities, for the UK and Ukraine's mutual benefit.

DSIT does not lead defence or security cooperation with Ukraine, which is driven by other government departments under the 100 Year Partnership. DSIT is supporting Ukrainian and UK researchers and businesses through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) grants and Horizon Europe funding, which offer routes for scientific exchange.

Adoption and integration of new commercial technologies is a collaborative process between the National Armaments Director (NAD) Group and the Armed Forces. The Military Strategic Headquarters, on behalf of Chief of Defence Staff, sets the design of the integrated force and the NAD Group are responsible for planning, resourcing and integrating applicable technology to deliver capability to the Armed Forces to meet the design.

The UK is learning extensively from Ukraine, particularly the need for a much faster 'learn and adapt' cycle and the ability to analyse real time data to drive rapid changes in capability and tactics though rapid innovation. This continues to inform UK Defence Policy alongside the Strategic Defence Review and the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan. As such, we are strengthening collaboration between operators, scientists and industry to accelerate our innovation activity to satisfy Defence requirements.