Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Drone Procurement

Monday 3 November 2025 · 5 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 5 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial efforts focus on reducing procurement time for drones through a new uncrewed centre of excellence to assist small and medium-sized enterprises.
  • Ukrspecsystems, a major drone manufacturer, is investing in Britain by opening a factory in Mildenhall, creating 500 jobs.
  • The Ministry is investing 1 billion in integrated air defence to counter mass drone threats, addressing recent security concerns.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Nick Timothy Con West Suffolk
Defence Energy Business & Trade
Context

The question pertains to reducing the time taken to procure drones for the UK Armed Forces, following concerns raised by Ukrainian drone manufacturer Ukrspecsystems investing in Britain and facing rising costs. The context includes discussions on Ukraine's conflict and the strategic defence review.

Question

What steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to procure drones for the armed forces. The biggest drone manufacturer in Ukraine, Ukrspecsystems, is investing £200 million in Britain, opening a factory in Mildenhall in the west of my county and creating 500 jobs directly and through the supply chain. However, like all manufacturers, it is facing rising energy costs and a tax bill that is likely to go up. If the Minister wants greater drone capacity in Britain, what conversations is he having with his colleagues in the Energy Department and the Business Department to ensure that the whole Government are pulling in the same direction?

Answer from The Minister for the Armed Forces (Al Carns)

The uncrewed centre of excellence is trying to pull all of Government together to make the system easier to deal with for small and medium-sized enterprises. I pay tribute to Ukrspecsystems, which has been providing drones to Ukraine for the past three years. They have been used to very high effect in that country.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Details of conversations with Energy Department and Business Department were not provided

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Q2 Paul Holmes Con Hamble Valley
Defence Standards & Ethics
Context

The question focuses on the proportion of drones purchased by the UK armed forces from UK-based drone manufacturers and the planned visit to a local manufacturer's factory.

Question

What steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to procure drones for the armed forces. I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. The Minister may be aware of Domo Tactical Communications, a drone manufacturer in my constituency that I have raised in written questions before. Will he uphold the visit that was due to take place by his predecessor before the reshuffle? What proportion of drones purchased for UK armed forces are procured from UK-based drone manufacturers, and what can be done to increase that proportion?

Answer from The Minister for the Armed Forces (Al Carns)

I have been reassured that the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry will visit the hon. Gentleman’s constituency to have a look at the factory. From my perspective, we have increased our production of drones for Ukraine—up to 100,000 this year alone—and we are increasing the procurement of drones into the British military by thousands.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Proportion of UK-based drone manufacturers and specific measures to increase it were not addressed

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Q3 Anna Dixon Lab Shipley
Ukraine Defence
Context

The question addresses the agility of procurement processes for smaller businesses with specialist technologies like Radio Design, a company in Saltaire known for radio frequency technology.

Question

I am very proud that the Government have supported Ukraine through the provision of drones. I recently visited Radio Design, a company in Saltaire in my constituency that is at the cutting edge of radio frequency, which is essential for fighting the rapidly developing threat from drones. Can the Minister assure me that procurement processes are agile enough to allow innovative smaller businesses with specialist technologies in radio frequency, such as Radio Design, to access new defence contracts in order to help us deliver on the strategic defence review?

Answer from The Minister for the Armed Forces (Al Carns)

It is not lost on anyone in the House that the first 100 pages of the strategic defence review are all about industry, about ensuring that SMEs can dock into the defence enterprise far more effectively, and about ensuring that we start procuring weapons and systems—and not only for our defence, but for our overseas partners. My hon. Friend will also be aware that we procured 10,000 drones in 2024. The figure has now gone up to 100,000, which are going to Ukraine to support our ally in its fight against Russia.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific assurance for the agility of procurement processes for innovative SMEs was not provided

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Q4 Peter Prinsley Lab Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket
Defence
Context

The question is about measures to develop a strategy for defending the UK from mass drone attacks, following recent incidents of Iranian-Russian drones being displayed in Parliament.

Question

We have all witnessed the devastating effect of mass drone attacks, and MPs could see for themselves the sinister looking Iranian Russian drone that was here in Parliament only last week. What measures is the Ministry taking to develop a strategy in this country to defend ourselves from such a mass drone attack?

Answer from The Minister for the Armed Forces (Al Carns)

I recall that a quadcopter landed on the deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth when she set sail several years ago, and since then investment in taking out uncrewed air systems has been relatively limited. However, in the strategic defence review we have pledged £1 billion to integrated air defence here in the UK, and my hon. Friend will see many procurements moving forward in the defence investment plan.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific measures for developing a strategy against mass drone attacks were not detailed

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Q5 James Cartlidge Con South Suffolk
Defence
Context

The question compares the current Government's actions in procuring drones for the British armed forces with a previous statement made by James Cartlidge, suggesting that Labour could find funds for drones by scrapping deals like the Chagos deal.

Question

According to their own written answer, the Government ordered only three drones for the British armed forces in their first financial year. At June’s Defence oral questions, I suggested that Labour could find the money to buy drones at the scale we need by scrapping the crazy Chagos deal. They rejected my proposal then, but given that the Secretary of State has just failed to deny £2.6 billion of cuts at the MOD this year, is it not even more urgent that they scrap their crazy £35 billion surrender and spend every penny on the uncrewed revolution for our own armed forces?

Answer from The Minister for the Armed Forces (Al Carns)

The irony! The Conservatives started the deal and they processed the deal. When Labour came into government, we finished it and we put it into place, supported by our allies—both the US and multiple others. Not only did we finish that deal, but we have started and finished an India deal, a US deal, a Europe deal, a Typhoon deal, a Norway deal and a Germany deal.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Comparison of Labour and Conservative policies on drone procurement was not addressed directly

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