Defence: Supply Chains
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 24 of his department’s Defence Industrial Strategy, published 8 September 2025, what progress has been made on strengthening UK and ailed capability including: steel, construction, energetic material, batteries, semiconductors and rare-earth elements.
Answered by Ministry of Defence
The MOD is strengthening UK and allied capability in strategically important sectors through delivery of the Strategic Defence Review, Defence Industrial Strategy and Defence Investment Plan. This includes improving the resilience and security of supply of critical defence inputs, identifying strategic dependencies, strengthening sovereign and allied industrial capacity where essential to national security, and reducing vulnerability to supply chain disruption, coercion and other strategic risks. Defence is also deepening its understanding of critical minerals, energetics, semiconductors and other essential inputs to ensure access to the capabilities and materials needed in peace, crisis and conflict.
To support this, MOD has established Category Management activity across key sectors, including steel, semiconductors and critical minerals, providing greater visibility of supply chain dependencies and informing resilience planning. Alongside this, programmes such as the Industrial Readiness Programme are improving understanding of stockholding, supplier inventory, replenishment lead times and industrial surge capacity, while targeted engagement with industry through forums such as the DIJC is helping to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities across strategically important supply chains.
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