Defence: Unmanned Air Systems
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using drones for defence missions.
Answered by Maria Eagle
The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) sets a new vision for how our Armed Forces should be conceived. This envisages a combination of conventional and digital warfighters; the power of drones, AI, and autonomy complementing the 'heavy metal' of tanks and artillery. It identifies that an immediate priority for force transformation should be a shift towards greater use of autonomy and Artificial Intelligence within the UK's conventional forces. As in Ukraine, this would provide greater accuracy, lethality, and cheaper capabilities-changing the economics of Defence. To support this shift towards autonomy, the Government has already announced an additional £2 billion this parliament on autonomy, making total spend on autonomy £4bn, including establishing a new Drone Centre.
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