Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2023 to Question 190762 on Watchkeeper WK450, whether his Department is using equipment from the Watchkeeper drone fleet to sustain drones held at readiness.

Watchkeeper sustainment fleet airframes are held at specific, graduated levels of readiness to support and help maintain the forward fleet's own readiness for operations. When required, this support includes augmenting the forward fleet with additional or replacement airframes and providing spare parts, which is commensurate with practices used on other Defence aviation platforms. To maintain operational security, I am unable to disclose further details of readiness levels.