As he will recall from his time as a Defence Minister, for operational and security reasons the Department does not make public the intended stockpile for the Stratus missiles.

The Department is working to ensure UK defence manufacturers benefit from NATO’s focus on expanding collective manufacturing capacity by leveraging NATO mechanisms, including the Defence Production Action Plan, the NATO Defence Industrial Production Board, and the Innovation Scale-Up Package, to boost an aggregated demand, improve interoperability, strengthen supply chain resilience, and provide clearer long-term demand signals to industry. The Defence Industrial Strategy and Defence Investment Plan reinforce this approach by supporting collaborative programmes with NATO Allies, including deep precision strike, air defence, autonomous systems, munitions production, future combat air and anti-submarine warfare, while helping UK firms access new export and multinational procurement opportunities and take advantage of the shift to “always on production".

As part of our commitment to NATO First and delivering the capabilities needed to meet the alliance’s warfighting requirements, the UK announced several significant contributions towards defence procurement at the Ankara Summit. Notably the UK has played a leading role in coordinating the Deep Precision Strike initiative, which brings together 12 European Allies with an expected investment of over $50 billion over the next decade to develop advanced deep precision strike capabilities available to the Alliance. The UK’s contribution includes developing capabilities that strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defence posture through a commitment in the Defence Investment Plan to spend £3 billion on Deep Precision Strike capabilities by 2030. Notably, the UK has announced its intention to join the Precision Strike Missile programme, backed by £190 million in the Defence Investment Plan.

The Ministry of Defence is currently negotiating with industry the Demonstration Phase costs for the system. The total costs are currently withheld for commercial sensitivity.

As he will recall from his time as a Defence Minister, the operational range for the Stratus LO missile is classified information. However, the range is significantly greater than the Storm Shadow and Harpoon weapons that it is replacing.

The Stratus programme continually advances the technology readiness levels and system maturity through a combination of modelling, sub-system testing and trials. To date, the programme has completed testing of the airframe design, engine demonstration, warhead and seeker performance. The first full scale system tests are scheduled from 2028.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

The Government is confident that the Defence Investment Plan provides the resources needed to deliver the capability priorities set out in the Strategic Defence Review. The plan places Defence on a stronger and more sustainable footing, backed by £298 billion of investment over the next four years, including an additional £15 billion above previous plans.

The plan invests in the capabilities required to meet current and future threats. This includes over £20 billion to increase the Army's lethality, over £11 billion for munitions stockpiles and production, over £5 billion in drones, over £2.5 billion for cyber capabilities, £790 million for homeland air and missile defence, and nearly £64 billion for the UK's nuclear enterprise and deterrent.

These investments ensure that Defence is better equipped to deliver the Strategic Defence Review's vision of enhanced warfighting readiness, deterrence and national resilience.

The Defence Investment Plan sets out how we will deliver and fund the Strategic Defence Review's recommendations between this year and financial year 2029-30.

Further decisions on the level of future increases in defence spending will be set out in the 2027 Spending Review as stated in the Defence Investment Plan.

The timing of the publication of the Defence Investment Plan has not adversely affected the United Kingdom's ability to defend itself. The Defence Investment Plan builds on investment already made in Defence and provides a funded framework to deliver the Strategic Defence Review, placing Defence on a stronger and more sustainable footing. It is backed by £298 billion over the next four years, including an additional £15 billion of spending power, and focuses on equipping our Armed Forces with the capabilities needed to deter and respond to current and future threats.

The Government remains committed to ensuring that Defence is adequately resourced to meet the challenges ahead.