Mr Speaker,

It is with great pleasure today I can announce to the house the government’s plan for the Future of the Armed Forces after negotiation with Her Majesty’s exchequer and our coalition partners. The funding for the projects will be confirmed as costs can be fully evaluated and and processes made more efficient. But the equipment budget be increased by £2 billion back to its previous level so we meet the 2% NATO target, this will be set out in the budget.

Mr Speaker, I am proud to announce that the government will begin the long needed replacements of our Navy's current fleet of thirteen Type 23 frigates. This process began in 2012 when BAE was awarded a contract to design the replacement. The government will commit to building and deploying nine Type-26 frigates and four of a newer class of lighter, flexible general purpose frigate, known as the Type 31 General Purpose Frigate (GPFF). Which due to their lower cost may allow future governments to commit to more of them to increase the nation's number of total Frigates, from the Type 23 frigates. This will be a great step forward modernising the Royal Navy’s capabilities to ensure the United Kingdom is protected for many years to come and our sailors have the best to achieve this with.

I am also pleased to announce the good progress of the two carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales that are still planned to come into service in 2017 and 2020 respectively. With the 160 Lockheed Martin F-35B fighters that will be arriving over the next 8 years the carriers will soon be the two shining beacons of British engineering and defence. Credit has to be given to my predecessor that completed the treaty that ordered these fighters, he negotiated a great deal for the country both financially and for the future of our defence. With this, as a way to balance out the running costs, the current fleet flagship HMS Ocean will be decommissioned in 2017 on the date in which HMS Queen Elizabeth is commissioned, which will also then, become our new fleet flagship. With the delay caused by the United States on the delivery of the F-35 fighter the plan set out in the previous defence review (here) the decommissioning of the Tornado GR4 fleet will be delayed until 28 F-35B fighters have been brought into service.

The government will also launch review of the Type-45 destroyer’s engines and we will work closely with Rolls-Royce so that the reliability issues can be resolved so that the destroyers will be functional in all waters.

Mr Speaker, For Her Majesty’s Army we are preparing to buy 589 Ajax armoured vehicles this will allow our forces to be rapidly deployable and quick on the battlefield and will come in six variants. This investment will be key as the government looks to reform the army to create two new strike brigades by 2025 comprising of 5,000 personnel each. We will also look to extend the life of our Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank by opening up applications from defence contractors to upgrade and extend their life.

Mr Speaker, as mentioned earlier the Tornado GR4 fleet will be kept in service 2 years longer than planned while at the same time the government will begin looking into extending the life of the Typhoon fleet beyond 2040. Nine P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft will be ordered to cover the gap left Nimrod in 2011 and the scrapping of his successor.

The MoD will also begin a review on how to improve the nation's missile defence, which currently only exists on the Type-45 destroyer. It will look into the feasibility of ground systems around major cities and strategic bases as well as mobile systems that could be moved around the country.

A Motion will be submitted to the house to give a mandate to the plan laid out in this speech and I hope this plan of action can be something that the whole house can get behind.

Mr Speaker, the government has set out a plan that will ensure that the armed forces will always have the equipment needed to protect British citizens around the world, ensure the country is best placed to uphold human rights and have the best platform to deliver aid quickly and efficiently to where it is needed. This investment into British engineering will also see a huge boost to local economies creating jobs, bringing wealth to thousands of families. This is another example of this government investing in the country’s future so economic growth and prosperity can continue coupled with the defence of its people.