Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the UK's tilt towards the Indo-Pacific region described in the Integrated Review Refresh 2023, whether (1) they will speed up the order for F35B fighter aircraft, (2) Crowsnest will be fully accepted into service, (3) the successor to Crowsnest will be expedited, and (4) the planned deployment of HMS Prince of Wales will be brought forward to 2024.

The Department has announced the intention to buy a further tranche of Lightning. However, details including the delivery profile remain subject to negotiation.

Turning to the CROWSNEST programme, which delivers Merlin Mk2 Airborne Surveillance and Control to the Royal Navy (RN), I can confirm that the capability was accepted into service in February 2021. CROWSNEST will fulfil the RN's organic Airborne Surveillance and Control capability until its current out-of-service date in 2029, to be replaced by a follow-on capability.

The Department continually assesses and reviews the effectiveness of its capabilities to inform decisions about where resources should be committed to treat the most pressing risks. The development of a successor to CROWSNEST is designed to ensure the continued delivery of Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and Airborne Early Warning to the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) beyond its planned out of service date, and will be coherent with both developments in Uncrewed Air Systems, and other technologies maturing through the Future Combat Air System and the RN's Future Air Dominance System.

Finally, regarding HMS PRINCE OF WALES (PWLS), the UK maintains a Very High Readiness CSG whose planned and reactive deployments can be adjusted to achieve His Majesty's Government's objectives. The department does not comment on the detail or evolution of those plans, however, I can confirm that we remain committed to ensuring PWLS commences her operational programme, as planned, in Autumn 2023.