Aircraft Carriers: F-35 Aircraft
(asked on 23rd June 2022) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Goldie on 20 June (HL693), when the UK will be able to deploy a carrier with its full load of 36 F-35B UK aircraft, should the operational requirement demand it.
This question was answered on 7th July 2022
On current plans, by the end of 2025, the UK will have procured 48 F-35Bs.
The Queen Elizabeth Class carriers have been designed to be able to embark 40 aircraft, a mix of fixed wing and rotary wing. The composition and size of the any embarked air group in a deploying carrier will be tailored to meet the operational requirement.