Source · Select Committees · Defence Committee
Recommendation 1
1
Accepted
Paragraph: 16
Over the next decade the UK and the Navy will face an increasingly complex international...
Conclusion
Over the next decade the UK and the Navy will face an increasingly complex international security environment. Russia and China will remain the primary adversaries at sea, with the relative importance of the UK’s response to each likely to shift and potentially interact through the decade. Developments in technology, particularly in hypersonic weapons, are changing the conduct of naval warfare and grey zone operations are becoming increasingly important for the UK’s security in the maritime domain, as they are in others.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government acknowledged that its assessment aligns with the committee's, detailing how the Integrated Review has invested in the Royal Navy, including 'sub-threshold' capabilities like enhancing Royal Marines and developing a counter-hypersonic capability for the Future Air Defence system.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
16
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
Response: The Committee’s report aligns with the Government’s assessment of the complex security environment. In the maritime environment, this is being driven by the confluence of assertive state actors, who are increasingly operating in the ‘grey zone’, and the proliferation of lethal technology. The Integrated Review (IR) recognised this challenge and has invested in the Royal Navy (RN) accordingly. This included ‘sub- threshold’ capabilities, such as enhancing the Royal Marines as a Special Operations capable Commando Force. The Defence Command Paper committed to a concept and assessment phase for the Future Air Defence system to replace the Type 45 Destroyer, a key element of which will be the development of a counter-hypersonic capability.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗