Written questions by Cartlidge.

How many personnel are currently held at readiness for UK resilience tasks.

As of the 23 April 2025, Defence holds c. 1,600 personnel at readiness for operations designed to support UK resilience. The tasks they are attributed to are wide ranging, from support in the instance of flooding (provided by the UK Standby Battalions) to the provision of fuel tanker drivers in the instance of a national shortage (Op ESCALIN). Of these 1,600 personnel, 900 are held at extremely high readiness within the UK Standby Battalions for domestic resilience tasks. This responsibility rotates through units and, as of 23 April 2025, is held by personnel from across the Army including the infantry, cavalry, Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers and the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. We take resilience tasks to mean operations designed to provide assistance to the civil authorities where there is either a capacity or skillset shortfall, excluding the provision of additional security in the instance of a significant terrorist attack.

Pursuant to the Answer of 1 April to Question 41493 on Defence: Finance, if he will provide a breakdown of the calculations used to reach the £14.2 billion figure referred to.

£14.2 billion is the difference between the NATO qualifying spend of £66.3 billion in 2024-25 and 2.5% of GDP in financial year 2027-28, which is £80.5 billion based on the OBR's latest growth forecast.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2025 to Question 39920 on Sustainable Farming Incentive: South Suffolk, how many of the 154 farmers primarily farm (a) arable crops, (b) horticultural crops, (c) permanent grass, (d) cattle, (e) sheep & lambs, (f) pigs and (g) poultry.

Defra does not hold data on farming business types for the Sustainable Farming Incentive.

When the next Chief of the Defence Staff will be announced.

Future appointments will be announced in due course.

Whether there has been any delay to the refitting of HMS Trent.

There has been no delay to HMS TRENT's refit. She started a capability refit in October 2024, which completed in December 2024. This was followed by a Capability Insertion Period, which is now complete. HMS Trent is currently undergoing planned force generation and machinery trials alongside in Malta, before proceeding to sea in mid-May.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 April to Question 43215 on Armed Forces: Recruitment, what his Department's targets are for applications for (a) the Royal Navy, (b) the Army and (c) the Royal Air Force in the 2025-26 financial year.

The current Government inherited a crisis in recruitment and retention from the last administration. We have made a series of announcements to improve recruitment since July 2024. The Army’s target for applications for all streams (Regular soldier, Regular Officer, Army Reserve soldier and Officer) for Recruiting Year 2025-26 is 198,000 (rounded). Whilst neither the Royal Navy nor Royal Air Force set formal targets for volume of applications, both closely monitor other recruitment metrics including attendance at the various suitability assessments and performance against intake targets. In addition, the RAF has a KPI for achieving a target for Expressions of Interest, set for their marketing contractors. This data is used to hold each Service to account and to forecast progress using known assessment pass rates and overall conversion rate.

Pursuant to the Answer of 07 April 2025 to Question 43150 on Strategic Defence Review, when the Prime Minister last met with (a) Lord Robertson, (b) General Barrons and (c) Fiona Hill.

As the Prime Minister reported in his Statement on Defence and Security in the House of Commons, the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) is being finalised. It will help set the path for Britain's defence for the next decade. The Defence Secretary meets regularly with the Review team and has done throughout the SDR process.

What units are currently held at readiness for UK resilience tasks.

As of the 23 April 2025, Defence holds c. 1,600 personnel at readiness for operations designed to support UK resilience. The tasks they are attributed to are wide ranging, from support in the instance of flooding (provided by the UK Standby Battalions) to the provision of fuel tanker drivers in the instance of a national shortage (Op ESCALIN). Of these 1,600 personnel, 900 are held at extremely high readiness within the UK Standby Battalions for domestic resilience tasks. This responsibility rotates through units and, as of 23 April 2025, is held by personnel from across the Army including the infantry, cavalry, Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers and the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. We take resilience tasks to mean operations designed to provide assistance to the civil authorities where there is either a capacity or skillset shortfall, excluding the provision of additional security in the instance of a significant terrorist attack.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2025 to Question 39920 on Sustainable Farming Incentive: South Suffolk, if his Department can provide the latest figures available.

The answer to Question 39920 provides the data as of 21 March 2025.There has been no change in the number of farm businesses with a Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement in South Suffolk constituency since 21 March 2025.

Whether there will be equal levels of single service representation for (a) the National Armaments Director Group and (b) its supporting staff.

It is too early to specify the overall staffing requirements and Service representation levels for the new organisational structure created as part of Defence Reform. This will be subject to refinement as planned implementation continues, and in response to operational and policy requirements as they emerge. It is, however, anticipated that the guiding principle of military post rotation within the single Services will continue to apply in the new structure.

What recent progress his Department has made on the Collective Training Transformation Programme.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 February 2025 to Question 29128 to the hon. Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Mr Bailey).

What recent progress his Department has made on the RCH 155 programme.

The Mobile Fires Platform project team will deliver the Remote Controlled Howitzer (RCH) 155 gun system this decade. The team continue to investigate opportunities to accelerate procurement and are working with industry to generate a costed proposal. While the Army’s modernisation will continue over the next decade with a programme of investment worth billions of pounds, future capability development priorities will be guided by the Strategic Defence Review.

What recent progress his Department has made on the Future Materials Campus programme.

The Future Materials Campus consolidates the delivery of several complex infrastructure projects at AWE Aldermaston. These will renew existing facilities for the manufacture and storage of nuclear materials, provide improved science and analysis capabilities, and invest in new capabilities for nuclear material recovery. The Programme remains in an early phase of its delivery, as reflected by the Amber rating in the Infrastructure and Projects Authority Annual Report 2023-24.

What recent assessment he has made of the progress of the Ground Based Air Defence programme.

The Land Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) programme strives to modernise Defence’s ground-based air defence capabilities in the face of rapidly developing threats and is a high priority for the Army. This includes the development of an integrated layered air defence system comprising countering Small Air Targets, Short and Medium Range Air Defence. The programme is now working towards an Initial Operating Capability of Medium Range Air Defence for warfighting by July 2026. This includes two Surface-to-Air Missile Operations Centres, and two enhanced Wireless Enabled Network sets. By June 2027, a further 800 Thales (Belfast) lightweight multi role missiles (LMM) will also be procured. The programme has begun to deliver Counter-Uncrewed Aerial Systems (C-UAS) capability for dismounted close combat forces, albeit in relatively low numbers. The focus is now switching to higher level UAS detect and non-kinetic systems, and upgrades to vehicle mounted weapon systems to enable them to engage UAS.

What recent progress his Department has made on the Challenger 3 programme.

The Armour Main Battle Tank programme will deliver Challenger 3. The programme has now delivered four prototypes, with four more currently in build, trials have already proven Challenger 3’s basic firing capability, mechanical design, and structural strength. The next set of trials are due to start in Quarter 2 2025. Among the improvements underway which will significantly enhance Challenger 3’s performance over Challenger 2, the programme is working under a bilateral UK/Germany agreement to qualify Enhanced Kinetic Energy ammunition.

What recent progress his Department has made on the New Medium Helicopter programme.

The New Medium Helicopter (NMH) Programme is an initiative to acquire a modern medium-lift support helicopter, addressing multiple rotary wing requirements to improve efficiency and operational flexibility. The NMH programme is part of a wider holistic approach on the Ministry of Defence's use of rotary wing capability. The tender evaluation remains ongoing and will complete before a commitment decision is made. All capability requirements, including NMH, are being considered as part of the Strategic Defence Review process.

What progress his Department has made on the Martlet programme.

The Martlet programme achieved Initial Operating Capability in October 2021 and is on track to reach Full Operating Capability in Summer 2025. Martlet has been in regular use including successful firings in support of training and trials and has been deployed on operations such as OP KIPION. The capability will provide force protection for OP HIGHMAST in 2025.

Whether there will be an equal level of single Service representation for the (a) Military Strategic Headquarters and (b) its supporting staff.

It is too early to specify the overall staffing requirements and Service representation levels for the new organisational structure created as part of Defence Reform. This will be subject to refinement as planned implementation continues, and in response to operational and policy requirements as they emerge. It is, however, anticipated that the guiding principle of military post rotation within the single Services will continue to apply in the new structure.

What recent progress his Department has made on the Land Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance programme.

The Land Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) programme will deliver a suite of new sensor systems and enable a digitalised Army, by fusing data sources and ensuring capacity for effective and faster decision-making. At the core of the programme is project ZODIAC, which will provide the digital infrastructure required to network our sensors into a fused intelligence picture that is displayed across the network and automate our intelligence collection and analytical processes. The ZODIAC Minimum Viable Product was delivered to 3 (UK) Division in 2024. Following a period of continuous development, enabled by the agile nature of the project, it will deliver the backbone of the Divisional ISTAR system for the forthcoming Warfighter Exercise in the US in May 2025.The TIQUILA project will provide a new Uncrewed Air System (UAS) to support Brigade and Divisional Operations. It has now achieved its Initial Operating Capability, delivering three trained and equipped detachments into the Joint Aviation Command (JAC). TIQUILA is on schedule to reach Full Operating Capability by mid-2026, which will deliver a further 21 detachments that are fully integrated into the ZODIAC system. Under TIQUILA's spiral upgrade programme, platforms will be fitted with resilient hardware and Long-Range Antennas, enabling them to operate in Global Navigation Satellite Systems-denied environments with greater reach.

With reference to his Written Ministerial Statement of 1 April 2025 on Defence Reform, HCWS573, whether the National Armaments Director Group is a non-departmental public body.

No.