Armed Forces
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Recommendation 1 of the 2025 Strategic Defence Review, what progress he has made on ensuring that the UK can recover quickly from attacks.
Answered by Ministry of Defence
The Defence Investment Plan (DIP) reaffirmed the Department's commitment to providing greater options for deterrence and response to aggression, while ensuring the Armed Forces can withstand and recover from attack.
Through the DIP, we are investing £298 billion over the next four years to deliver the Strategic Defence Review, rebuild warfighting readiness, and develop a NATO-first Integrated Force. This includes measures to improve recruitment, retention and morale, grow Regular personnel numbers, and strengthen the Strategic Reserve.
We are increasing the Armed Forces' ability to deter and, if necessary, fight and win through investment in autonomous systems, long-range missiles, artificial intelligence, armoured vehicles and precision strike capabilities. This includes over £5 billion for autonomous systems, £1.8 billion for the Digital Targeting Web, and further investment in Project ASGARD.
The DIP also strengthens the Armed Forces' resilience and survivability through investment in Integrated Air and Missile Defence, counter-drone capabilities, cyber and electromagnetic operations, space-based surveillance, critical underwater infrastructure protection, and medical and CBRN capabilities.
Together, these investments improve the UK's ability to deter aggression, respond to threats and attacks, sustain military operations, and recover more rapidly from disruption, while continuing to meet our commitments to NATO Allies.
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