Military Aicraft: Helicopters
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Billion-pound helicopter deal secures 3,300 British jobs, boosts battlefield kit and unlocks up to £15 billion in UK exports, published on 2 March 2026, whether he plans to deliver the new medium-lift helicopter as an uncrewed capability in the (a) current or (b) next Parliament.
Answered by Luke Pollard
The New Medium Helicopter (NMH) has been procured with an open architecture that will enable integration with crewed and uncrewed systems as future requirements and funding are defined by Defence. This approach is supported by the wider benefits delivered through the £1 billion NMH contract, which secures thousands of skilled UK jobs, significantly increases UK industrial workshare, and establishes Yeovil as Leonardo’s global centre of excellence for autonomous helicopter technology.
These investments strengthen the UK’s long-term capacity to develop and exploit emerging uncrewed aviation capabilities. While this provides a clear pathway for future interoperability, the platform will not be delivered as an uncrewed capability in this Parliament or the next.
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