Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the time taken by the UK military flying training system on the delivery of fast jet pilots.

The UK Military Flying Training System (UK MFTS) continues to deliver sufficient appropriately trained aircrew to meet Defence’s operational requirements. While it is recognised that there have previously been delays within UK MFTS pipelines, a range of measures have been put in place to address known issues.

Furthermore, holding periods for Fast Jet trainee pilots are reducing and are forecast to continue to improve to an optimal period of time.