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Armed Forces: Firearms

Asked by Ben Obese-JectyConservativeMinistry of DefenceTabled Answered 26 February 2026UIN 112711

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of utilising the M134 minigun in a ground-based counter-Unmanned Aircraft System role.

Answered by Luke Pollard

The British Army continues to revolutionise its fighting capabilities, improving their range, persistence, precision and mass. The ability of our Armed Forces to counter the threat of highly developed uncrewed air systems is of vital importance, as is learning from ongoing conflicts as well as independent first-principle thinking.

The Army is considering several ground-based countermeasures to address the threat posed by uncrewed air systems as part of work looking into future capabilities.

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