Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Goldie on 23 December 2022 (HL4271), which squadrons will provide the 36 F35B Lightning aircraft to meet the Full Operating Capability of the Carrier Strike operating within a Maritime Task Group configuration.

No Squadrons, either fixed wing or rotary wing, are permanently assigned. It remains the case that each Queen Elizabeth-class carrier has been designed for the flexible usage necessary in a modern defence capability, including transporting a mix of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. However, the composition and size of an embarked air group in a deploying carrier will be tailored to meet the operational requirement.