Asked by: Lady Hermon (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether funds have been allocated for the purchase of new F-35s for the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Department has allocated funding for the UK’s first tranche of F-35 aircraft which will be used for both land and maritime based operations. To provide maximum flexibility, the Ministry of Defence does not allocate aircraft to specific ships. The final number of F-35s to be procured by the UK will only be determined after the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Asked by: Lady Hermon (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the number of Islamic State militants fighting in Syria and Iraq; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mark Francois
It is difficult to estimate the exact number of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants fighting in Iraq and Syria. In Iraq in particular, other insurgent groups and militias have allied with ISIL and operate alongside it, complicating any estimate of ISIL’s numbers. It is likely though that ISIL can mobilise several thousand fighters across both countries. However we cannot be more specific at this time.