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The Royal Navy is to acquire new offshore support vessels alongside Norway to serve as motherships for its growing fleet of autonomous minehunters.
The Red Arrows are to receive new jets to replace their ageing Hawk aircraft as part of a £360 million recapitalisation of the military's jet training system.
Almost a third of the gbp 15bn Defence Investment Plan, some 4.7bn, has yet to be pinned down and will only be settled at the autumn Budget.
The Defence Investment Plan sets out an autonomous replacement for the Royal Navy's Wildcat maritime helicopters and increasingly autonomous rotorcraft flying from frigates and destroyers, as the Fleet Air Arm shifts towards uncrewed flight.
Paul Sweeney, Labour MSP and former Clyde worker, has warned that BAE Systems needs a new design contract within around eighteen months to avoid job losses.
Graeme Downie, the MP for Dunfermline and Dollar, has welcomed the commitment to a new Common Combat Vessel and pressed for it to be based on the Type 31 frigate being built in Rosyth.
The Defence Investment Plan commits to Project PANTHEON to build a Hybrid Carrier Air Wing, with jet-powered drones trialled under Project VANQUISH to fly alongside the F-35B and an autonomous early warning system for the carriers.
The Defence Investment Plan gives the UK's Special Forces a 12 percent funding uplift over four years and equips its high-readiness troops, 16 Air Assault Brigade and the Commando Force, with new communications, drones and night-vision kit.
The Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, Luke Pollard, has confirmed that the Defence Investment Plan retires two more Type 23 frigates, part of a phased withdrawal of the ageing class running up to 2033 as new ships come into service.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has told Parliament how the government will fund the £15bn Defence Investment Plan, reallocating capital budgets across Whitehall and £4.7bn still to be confirmed at the autumn Budget.
