Member

I do not want to talk about the capability of the GCAP or Tempest—not least coming after the noble and gallant Lord—as I think we are all agreed about its vital importance as a bridge to the kind of defence and security challenges we may face in the middle of this century, or from 2035 if the in-service date is 2035. However, we can already see, not least in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, just how important it is to have air superiority and to be able to control, as Tempest will, the many unmanned aerial vehicles and the scope and range of the responsibilities that pilots of Tempest will have in the future, and how impossible it would be to engage in any conflict successfully without that kind of air superiority which Tempest can provide.