Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government for how many days in the first six months of 2022 were UK F35s embarked on (1) HMS Queen Elizabeth, and (2) HMS Prince of Wales, at sea; what numbers were embarked on each ship each day; how many flying hours were conducted each day; and how many pilots were of the (a) Royal Navy, and (b) Royal Air Force, for each day.

Assuming the question relates to embarked flying hours, in the first six months of 2022, zero F-35s have been embarked on Queen Elizabeth Carriers (QEC) at sea. Therefore, zero flying hours have been conducted and pilots from the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force have not been required.

The composition and size of an embarked air group in a deploying carrier will be tailored to meet operational requirement - the operational tasking of the QEC in the first six months of 2022 has not required F-35s to be embarked.