Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what security limitations were placed on the prime contractor with regard to the sourcing of the airframe for the E-7 Wedgetail contract.

The E-7 Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft is a military derivative of the Boeing 737 Next Generation civil airliner and is produced by modifying the airframe and embodying a sophisticated radar and mission system. Boeing is required to provide airframes that meet our overall requirements in terms of performance, quality and security. As part of this process, Boeing undertakes comprehensive overhaul and stringent security checks prior to the airframes entering the modification process. This in itself is an extensive programme of work that involves significant adaptation of the original airframe.