Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to reduce the order of F35's from the original number of 138.
As set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, funding has been approved for the procurement of 48 Lightning aircraft out to 2025. These are being procured in lots and we have taken delivery of 18 aircraft and have contracted for 17 new airframes to be delivered between 2020 and 2022. Negotiations for further lots are ongoing.
The guiding principle of the Integrated Review is to identify the threat and the appropriate capability to meet it. Any decisions on the future direction of the Lightning programme as a result of the Integrated Review will be firmly based on those principles.