Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

What the out-of-service date is of FV433 Bulldog.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 May 2025 in response to Question 48996.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of procuring a mortar-capable variant of Ares.

No internal assessment has been made regarding the merits of procuring a mortar-capable variant of ARES.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of replacing the L3A1 socket bayonet as part of Project Grayburn.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on the 28 April 2025 to Question 45196. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-04-08/45196#

What his planned delivery timeline is for all variants of vehicles within the Armoured Cavalry Programme between (a) 21 July and 31 December 2025 and (b) 2026 and beyond.

The Armoured Cavalry Programme plans to deliver a further 55 platforms between July 2025 and December 2025. 182 platforms will be delivered by the end of 2025. A breakdown by variant is provided below. AJAX26ARES5APOLLO1ATLAS10ATHENA13ARGUS0 It is anticipated that a further 110 platforms will be delivered in 2026, with the remaining 297 platforms delivered by 2028. To ensure alignment to the Army fielding plan and Defence priorities, the variant mix of vehicles is reviewed and agreed annually. The programme remains on track to deliver all 589 vehicles by September 2029 as contracted.

How many and what proportion of Tranche 1 Typhoons have been scrapped as of 1 July 2025.

26 of the 30 Tranche 1 Typhoon aircraft have been scrapped as of 1 July 2025; this equates to 87% of the Tranche 1 fleet.

What assessment has he made of the potential merits of procuring an order of Tranche 4 Typhoons for the Royal Air Force.

The 2025 Strategic Defence Review described the increasingly demanding threat environments in which UK Defence will operate. The Defence Investment Plan will analyse this changing threat and determine our future mix of 4th and 5th generation combat aircraft, in order to provide the UK the most relevant and capable Combat Air capability. As part of the four Partner-Nation Eurofighter Programme, the UK is committed to upgrades to ensure the Typhoon aircraft remains competitive into the future, including the introduction of the European Common Radar Standard 2 radar.

How many Tranche (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3 and (d) 3A Typhoons are in service with the Royal Air Force.

The table below details the number of Typhoon aircraft currently in service with the Royal Air Force. Tranche 1Tranche 2Tranche 346740 The Royal Air Force does not have any Tranche 3A Typhoon aircraft.

What the out-of-service date is of all (a) Tranche 1, (b) Tranche 2 and (c) Tranche 3/3A Typhoons.

The planned out-of-service dates for the RAF's fleet of Typhoon aircraft are given below: Out of Service Tranche 1 2027 Tranche 2 2040 Tranche 3 2040 The RAF does not have any Typhoon Tranche 3A aircraft.

What assessment he has made of the feasibility of fitting the Case Telescoped 40mm Cannon to the Ares platform in (a) manned turret or (b) remote weapon station form.

An initial assessment has shown that it is not possible to integrate a crewed CT40 turret on ARES. No assessment has been made of the CT40 on a Remote Weapon Station.

How many people have been relocated to the UK from Afghanistan under the (a) Afghan relocations and assistance policy, (b) Afghan citizens resettlement scheme and (c) Afghanistan Response Route schemes.

When the Taleban seized control in 2021, many thousands of people who served and supported our British Armed Forces were left in Afghanistan.The UK made a commitment to honour the moral obligation we owe to those Afghans who stood with us, there was cross party support for this at the time. In February 2022, under the previous Government a spreadsheet with names of individual applicants for ARAP – the resettlement scheme for Afghan citizens who worked for or with the UK Armed Forces in Afghanistan – was emailed outside of official government systems. This was mistakenly thought to contain the names of a small number of applicants, but in fact the email contained personal information linked to c18700 applicants of ARAP and its predecessor scheme, the Ex-Gratia Scheme (EGS). The data related to applications made on or before 7 January 2022. A very small section of this spreadsheet appeared online on 14th August 2023, which is when the Government first became aware that the MOD's ARAP case working spreadsheet had been mistakenly included with the original email. The previous government decided to seek an injunction concerning the breach on 25th August 2023. The High Court granted a super injunction as a result. The previous Government also set up a new secret resettlement route to bring those affected to the UK. Former Ministers started work on this in Autumn 2023 and it was up and running by April 2024. This Secretary of State then commissioned an independent Policy Review from ex Deputy chief of Defence Intelligence Paul Rimmer. This began earlier this year and concluded and was presented to Ministers in June. The review examined the overall policy context in spring 2025, three years since the data incident and concluded that it appears “highly unlikely” that merely being on the dataset would be grounds for targeting. As the Defence Secretary outlined in his oral statement dated 15 July 2025, the Rimmer review was a very significant element in the Government’s decision to change policy to close the ARR, though not the sole element. This was not a decision taken lightly. We have now made the matter public so it can be subject to full Parliamentary scrutiny. From 2021 to the end of June 2025, under the Afghan Resettlement Programme, there have been 13,200 arrivals through the ACRS, 19,000 through ARAP and 3,400 through the ARR. The number of ARR arrivals are included in the overall figures for ARAP, so previous published statistics have presented an accurate picture of total arrivals.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2025 to Question 66728 on Ajax Vehicles, which units within 3 Division will be equipped with Ares in the infantry troop carrying role.

The Army intends to equip the Regular Infantry Units within 3 (UK) Division with Ares in the infantry troop carrying role: 1 MERCIAN, 1 Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, 1 Royal Welsh and 5 Rifles.

Whether he has visited (a) Samlesbury and (b) Wharton assembly facilities for (i) F-35 and (ii) Typhoon aircraft since 5 July 2024.

These aircraft are an important part of providing security for this country and providing jobs for industry across the UK, and the Secretary of State for Defence hopes to visit these facilities in the near future.

Whether the planned block 4 upgrade for F-35B will facilitate the carriage of the (a) Meteor missile system or (b) any other UK-built munitions.

Block 4 modernisation will include the integration of UK-unique weapons and upgrades to air-to-surface and air-to-air weaponry.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2025 to Question 65665 on Project ASGARD, what his planned timetable is for delivery of capability through Project ASGARD.

ASGARD is working to deliver a step change in lethality for land forces through a software-defined, network enabled, targeting web that will directly link into the Defence Targeting web, driving targeting at a rate unmatched through traditional processes. ASGARD is the British Army's flagship Transformative Capability Initiative. Elements of a prototype software defined deep recce strike complex were tested in May this year. The next iteration of ASGARD, focused at Corps level operations, will be tested in Quarter 2 2026.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2025 to Question 63151 on F-35 Aircraft: In-flight Refuelling, whether the 12 F-35A aircraft ordered have been specified with (a) solid boom and (b) probe-and-drogue refuelling capability.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 4 July 2025 to Question 63066.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of adopting the 6.8mm calibre on the personal weapon system infrastructure of the Army.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 28 April 2025 to Question 45196, which explains that Project GRAYBURN is in its concept phase with the aim of identifying and understanding capability requirements. As part of this phase, various rifle calibres are being considered. The implications of a potential calibre change, including infrastructure, will be balanced against performance requirements.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2024 to Question 15669 on Ajax Vehicles, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of equipping infantry battalions with Ares.

The Army continues to undergo a combined programme of work to ensure our Land Forces will have the lethality, protection and mobility to fight and win against any adversary; and to support the transformation of the Army's two divisions and Corps Headquarters committed to NATO's Strategic Reserve Corps. As part of this the Army intends to reorganise its Heavy Forces units in 3 Division, such that all four would become Armoured Infantry Units based on the Ajax and Boxer family of vehicles. Further detail will be provided in due course.

With reference to his Department's news story entitled British Army to increase lethality over the next decade while Royal Navy steps up innovation in NATO, published on 5 June 2025, what metrics will be used to assess the Army’s baseline for its current lethality; and what the level of each metric will be in order for the Army to have achieved its target of increasing lethality ten-fold.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry gave him on 12 June 2025, to Question 57781.

What the scope of Project WAVELL is.

Project Wavell is the Army’s means to deliver force development transformation to 2030 and beyond towards an Army designed and organised for high-intensity warfighting. This is being implemented through an incremental approach that sequences delivery against the changing operational demand.

What the scope of Project ASGARD is.

ASGARD is working to deliver a step change in lethality for land forces through a software-defined, network enabled, targeting web that will directly link into the Defence Targeting web, driving targeting at a rate unmatched through traditional processes.