Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the impact of the reduction in the proposed purchase from five to three aircraft on the acquisition cost of the E-7 Wedgetail programme; and what the revised cost of the E-7 programme is, expressed as total (a) acquisition and (b) through-life cost.

The impact of the decision taken as part of the Integrated Review in March 2021 to reduce from five to three the number of Wedgetail aircraft that will enter Royal Air Force service was assessed in light of wider Departmental fiscal considerations. I am withholding details of the acquisition cost and Whole Life Costs as not all elements of the programme are yet on contract and to release this information would prejudice the Ministry of Defence's commercial interests while negotiations have not yet concluded.