Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the US Department of Defense's decision to delay the acceleration of orders of the F-35 until 2021.

The US Department of Defense budget decision in relation to accelerating F-35 orders does not impact on the UK's F-35B Lightning II procurement policy, which we will continue to progress in line with the Strategic Defence and Security Review. The programme remains on track for initial operating capability in 2018.