Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost of the announcement that 12 F-35As will be bought, beyond the £1.1 billion already announced, once weapons, simulators, and infrastructure are taken into account.

The whole-life cost estimate of £57 billion includes procurement and sustainment of 138 F-35 aircraft to 2069, including technical infrastructure, weapons integration, and aircraft upgrades. The procurement of 12 F-35A rather than 12 F-35B as part of the next procurement package is expected to deliver a saving of up to 25% in initial procurement costs per aircraft for the taxpayer.