In June former Prime Minister Theresa May warned UK mobile operators to be cautious about using the Chinese firm in light of its US ban despite the fact that many had already started building Huawei technology into their new infrastructure.

The company has been subjected to intense scrutiny in recent months amid accusations of having close ties to the Chinese state, with some critics arguing that its telecoms equipment could be used to spy on people in the West.

Huawei has always strongly denied the claims and in July, UK CEO Jerry Wang said that disallowing the firm would be a “big loss” for the country.

Speaking at the defence and security arms fair DSEI, Wallace said: “The Government will come to its position soon. We will get to a decision pretty soon.

“We will not allow anything to compromise our sensitive networks in the UK but our technical advice is that there are places we can go to mitigate any security risk.

“This is more than just technical – this is also about behaviour. It wasn’t that long ago that the United Kingdom and other nations called out China publicly for some of its cyber activity. And if we are going to allow countries access to our markets, I think we should all expect a code of behaviour which is fair play.”

America has urged its allies – including Britain – not to use Huawei equipment or face being cut off from US intelligence because of the “unacceptable risk” the firm poses.

At the event Wallace also launched a bidding process to operate and maintain the country’s next generation military satellite communications system, Skynet 6.

With the first Skynet satellite launched in November 1969, he said the new system – set to replace Skynet 5 – will give “our forces unparalleled capacity to talk to each other in any hostile environment”.

He added: “Today we are having to deal with increasing threats to satellite-based navigation. So the need for robust communications has never been more vital.”

The successful industry partner will manage the ground stations, infrastructure and technology involved in the programme, Wallace said – with the contract set to commence in September 2021.

Highlighting the changing nature of warfare, the Defence Secretary also touched on the “peril drone technology poses to our airspace”, citing disruptive incidents at Gatwick and Heathrow airports.

Earlier this week BT announced a new ‘counter-drone’ programme that uses technology to detect, track and identify drones that breach airspace and site limits.

In June former Prime Minister Theresa May warned UK mobile operators to be cautious about using the Chinese firm in light of its US ban despite the fact that many had already started building Huawei technology into their new infrastructure.

The company has been subjected to intense scrutiny in recent months amid accusations of having close ties to the Chinese state, with some critics arguing that its telecoms equipment could be used to spy on people in the West.

Huawei has always strongly denied the claims and in July, UK CEO Jerry Wang said that disallowing the firm would be a “big loss” for the country.

Speaking at the defence and security arms fair DSEI, Wallace said: “The Government will come to its position soon. We will get to a decision pretty soon.

“We will not allow anything to compromise our sensitive networks in the UK but our technical advice is that there are places we can go to mitigate any security risk.

“This is more than just technical – this is also about behaviour. It wasn’t that long ago that the United Kingdom and other nations called out China publicly for some of its cyber activity. And if we are going to allow countries access to our markets, I think we should all expect a code of behaviour which is fair play.”

America has urged its allies – including Britain – not to use Huawei equipment or face being cut off from US intelligence because of the “unacceptable risk” the firm poses.

At the event Wallace also launched a bidding process to operate and maintain the country’s next generation military satellite communications system, Skynet 6.

With the first Skynet satellite launched in November 1969, he said the new system – set to replace Skynet 5 – will give “our forces unparalleled capacity to talk to each other in any hostile environment”.

He added: “Today we are having to deal with increasing threats to satellite-based navigation. So the need for robust communications has never been more vital.”

The successful industry partner will manage the ground stations, infrastructure and technology involved in the programme, Wallace said – with the contract set to commence in September 2021.

Highlighting the changing nature of warfare, the Defence Secretary also touched on the “peril drone technology poses to our airspace”, citing disruptive incidents at Gatwick and Heathrow airports.

Earlier this week BT announced a new ‘counter-drone’ programme that uses technology to detect, track and identify drones that breach airspace and site limits.