The Government is committed to the implementation of the Defence Investmeny Plan (DIP).

The DIP implements our ‘NATO First’ approach, placing NATO requirements and interoperability at the heart of UK capability planning. The decisions we have taken will increase the UK’s readiness for the future fight, whilst sustaining our contribution to NATO operations and deterrence activity.

The UK has provided the primary hub for NATO Distributed Synthetic Training since 2025, supporting secure and operationally relevant joint training for NATO personnel across the maritime, land and air domains.

Following the direction of the 2025 Strategic Defence Review, the Ministry of Defence is developing a single virtual training environment and embedding synthetic training requirements within future procurement programmes.

This will enable personnel to train together more effectively, improve the re-use of existing capabilities, and increase interoperability with NATO Allies and partners.

For reasons of operational security, we do not comment on specific threat assessments relating to Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia or on the security measures in place there.

Vessels from the Royal Navy visited New Zealand on the below dates.

Any decision to determine whether any proposed activity falls within the Government's stated defensive purpose or to support allies is considered on a case-by-case basis. The decision to grant permission is dependent on the nature and purpose of their activity. This includes consideration of the applicable legal and policy frameworks.

Defence will develop RAF Wyton as a modern, integrated intelligence hub through the upgrading and consolidation of purpose-built infrastructure, supporting the ambitions set out in the Strategic Defence Review and Defence Investment Plan as part of the wider modernisation of our Military Intelligence Services (MIS). The programme is intended to deliver modern, secure and more integrated facilities that enable personnel and capabilities to operate more effectively together, support the adoption of advanced digital, data and analytical capabilities, and improve collaboration across Defence and with partners.

Project OCTOPUS is our first collaborative capability project with Ukraine under Programme LYRA, which the Prime Minister and President Zelenskyy launched last June. Programme LYRA enables the bilateral exchange of battlefield technology and intellectual property between the UK and Ukraine, under which we will continue to collaborate with our Ukrainian partners to identify the most beneficial projects which support Ukraine's fight and stimulate industrial partnerships of mutual benefit.

In line with the Strategic Defence Review, Military Intelligence Services (MIS) will strengthen integration across Defence intelligence organisations and with partners across Government, industry and academia, enabling intelligence to be collected, analysed and shared more effectively. This will be supported by investment in critical intelligence capabilities, the accelerated adoption of advanced technologies and data-driven tools, and improved interoperability across the intelligence enterprise. MIS will also empower its people by attracting, training, educating and retaining a world-class intelligence workforce.

The National Conversation is essential to promote unity of effort across society and support a whole-of-society approach to UK deterrence and defence. In many ways, the conversation has already begun, as evidenced in the Prime Minister’s statement evidence at the Liaison’s Committee on 23 March and reinforced by the Prime Minister’s remarks on 5 June, highlighting that we are living in more dangerous and volatile times with increasing state backed attacks across the UK and other countries.

This Government is committed to strengthening national preparedness and the communication of threats through the Prime Minister-led national conversation to increase public awareness of the most serious risks we face. As confirmed in a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 14 July, the Government will launch a national resilience public awareness campaign later this year.  The Ministry of Defence is playing a key role within the programme of work, aligned Cabinet Office-led Home Defence Programme, to facilitate a whole of society approach to defence and security.

The UK and New Zealand maintain a strong defence partnership and are committed to working together to enhance security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

Through the Joint Statement on Enhanced Defence Cooperation, signed in September 2025 between UK-New Zealand Defence Ministers, the UK and New Zealand have committed to cooperate on regional security challenges, enhance interoperability, and strengthen defence cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and Pacific.

The UK and New Zealand continue to exercise and train together through multinational activity, including the Five Power Defence Arrangements, exercises, and through bilateral engagement with the New Zealand Defence Force. Between April and June 2026, the UK Armed Forces also recently conducted joint training activities in New Zealand alongside New Zealand Defence Force counterparts.

The Defence Investment Plan sets out the ambition for the British Army to become ten times more lethal by 2035. This increase in lethality is not a single moment but a trajectory, assessed through the Army's ability to generate combat effects faster and more effectively than potential adversaries.

Progress is tracked against Army Command Plan milestones that reflect the transformation of fighting power. This approach, supported by investments in systems such as Project ASGARD, Challenger 3, and RCH-155, ensures the Army delivers a more lethal, tech-enabled force capable of deterring threats and defending the UK and NATO territory.

The Royal Marines are the UK's specialists in amphibious, extreme cold weather and mountainous warfare. The Royal Navy has prioritised Commando Force outputs, with High North warfighting and wider Euro-Atlantic activity identified as a core task. As the Royal Marines' most demanding operational role, prioritising High North warfighting ensures the Commando Force remains ready to undertake a broad range of Defence tasks. Having deployed regularly to the High North for decades, they are able to meet these commitments within existing workforce capacity.

There are currently no plans to cancel other commitments as a result of increased activity in the High North and remain capable of delivering homeland defence, crisis response, maritime special operations, and other sovereign tasks as required.

The UK Armed Forces constantly reviews the effectiveness of its military exercises according to key metrics to ensure the activity is having the desired impact and improving force readiness, capability, interoperability with allies or deterrence messaging.

The UK continues to enhance the effectiveness of its training exercises with NATO and other allies across all domains, including air, land and maritime. Such examples include the ongoing Op FIRECREST Carrier Strike Group deployment in the High North, Exercise SEA BREEZE, a maritime countermeasures exercise with NATO allies, and the upcoming multinational air exercise COBRA WARRIOR Pt 2.

The Government is committed to a NATO-first approach and is working with Allies to strengthen interoperability across the Alliance. The Strategic Defence Review directed Defence to establish a roadmap for delivering deeper interoperability with NATO Allies.

In response, Defence has developed the UK's Interoperability Roadmap, which we are now implementing, and which aligns with NATO's Interoperability Plan. The Roadmap focuses on improving the ability of the Armed Forces to operate seamlessly with Allies through common standards, digital integration, training, exercises and capability development.

The Defence Investment Plan reinforces this approach, placing NATO requirements and interoperability at the heart of UK capability planning by prioritising a transformed, NATO-first Integrated Force capable of deterring and fighting alongside Allies in the Euro-Atlantic.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the former Minister for the Armed Forces, Al Carns MP, to Question 118566 on 16 March 2026.

The UK continues to work closely with international partners through the Demining Capability Coalition to support Ukraine's demining requirements. Through this collaboration, the Coalition provides equipment, training and specialist expertise, including technologies that help reduce the risk to personnel operating in hazardous environments. Support is delivered in response to Ukrainian priorities, and the UK remains committed to working with allies and Ukraine to develop the capabilities needed to address explosive hazards safely and effectively.

I am withholding the details of one-way attack drone stockpile holdings, procurement quantities and projected annual growth rates for operational security reasons. The capability will, however, grow from a minimal deployable capability as part of the Army's wider One Way Effector programme.

The UK continues to work closely with international partners through the Demining Capability Coalition to support Ukraine's demining requirements. Through this collaboration, the Coalition provides equipment, training and specialist expertise, including technologies that help reduce the risk to personnel operating in hazardous environments. Support is delivered in response to Ukrainian priorities, and the UK remains committed to working with allies and Ukraine to develop the capabilities needed to address explosive hazards safely and effectively.

Uncrewed systems are currently operating at British Army Training Unit Suffield. The site also supports the testing and evaluation of these systems across its 2,700 km² training area. As outlined in the Defence Investment Plan, future investment will better exploit the site's unique scale and freedom of manoeuvre, supporting the accelerated development and delivery of uncrewed systems capability.

Defence prioritises cyber security and regularly reviews its resilience through the GovAssure scheme. This process relies on the National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) to assess risk and drive improvements in cyber security and resilience. We are committed to the delivery of our objectives under the publicly available Cyber Resilience Strategy for Defence.

This is reported to the Cabinet Office on an annual basis. Details of specific assessments are not shared publicly for security reasons.