Asked by: Baroness Goldie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many ships are currently in service with the Royal Navy; and how many of those are (1) in maintenance, (2) on extended life, and (3) scheduled for decommissioning.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
To avoid compromising operational security, the Ministry of Defence does not routinely disclose elements of the Fleet's long-term schedule and readiness profiles.
The Royal Navy continues to meet its operational objectives and to work closely with the Government to ensure our maritime environment remains safe amid a changing threat environment.
Currently the Royal Navy has 52 Surface Ships in service, at varying states of Operational availability and readiness. The RFA has 9. It is important to see availability as a constant cycle as ships move through maintenance, training, and deployment and recovery phases, with around 50% of the fleet at high readiness or above at any one time.
Asked by: Baroness Goldie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the build schedule and estimated initial operating capacity of the Type 31 frigate.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The first Type 31 frigate, HMS Venturer, is scheduled to be ready for operations by the end of the decade.
The Type 31 programme is progressing to deliver five capable and versatile new frigates for the Royal Navy. HMS Active, the second ship in the class, floated-off on 21 March 2026 and will now undergo further outfit work before test and commissioning takes place. Steel has also been cut on HMS Bulldog, the fourth vessel in the class.
Asked by: Baroness Goldie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the current munitions stockpile level is lower than that as of 1 January 2024; and if so, what is the timescale for the replenishment of munitions stockpiles to that level.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Details regarding Defence's munitions stockpile are classified, and it would therefore be inappropriate to provide further commentary.
As part of our commitment under the Strategic Defence Review, we committed £1.5 billion through the Strategic Defence Review to transitioning production of key munitions to an "always on" model and are progressing plans to establish six new munitions and energetics factories in the UK, taking our total munitions spend this parliament to £6 billion. The Ministry of Defence continues to work closely with industry, allies, and partners to ensure that munitions stockpiles remain sufficient to meet the demands of current and future operations.
Asked by: Baroness Goldie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) F-35A, and (2) F-35B, Lightning stealth jets have been ordered; and what is the delivery schedule of those planes.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
48 F-35B aircraft have been ordered and delivered. Future orders of F-38A and F-35B, and their delivery schedules are subject to the publication of the Defence Investment Plan.
Asked by: Baroness Goldie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) fixed-wing, and (2) rotary-wing, aircraft are in service with the Royal Air Force; and how many of those are (a) in maintenance for a period longer than three months, (b) on extended life, and (c) scheduled for decommissioning.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
There are 485 fixed-wing aircraft In-Service with the Royal Air Force. Of these 86 are in maintenance for longer than three months and 27 are in fleet management storage.
There are 86 rotary-wing aircraft In-Service with the Royal Air Force. Of these 17 are in maintenance for longer than three months. None are in fleet management storage.
It is part of standard fleet management across all fleets for aircraft to undertake detailed depth maintenance inspections under scheduled timelines. These extensive aircraft strip-down checks ensure safety and continuing airworthiness and often take a period greater than three months to complete.
Aircraft scheduled for decommissioning are no longer considered to be In-Service.
Asked by: Baroness Goldie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the Defence Investment Plan has not been published by Autumn 2025 as was committed to in the Defence Industrial Strategy.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We are working flat out on the Defence Investment Plan, which will fix the outdated, overcommitted and underfunded defence programme we inherited from the last Government, and we will publish it as soon as it is ready.
Asked by: Baroness Goldie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reach the stated target of spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence by 2030.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As confirmed in the Spending Review (SR) 2025, this Government has a fully funded path to reaching 2.6% NATO qualifying defence spending by 2027, with an ambition to reach 3% by the end of the next Parliament, when fiscal and economic conditions allow. We will set budgets for the next Spending Review period at SR27. The NATO Defence Investment Pledge will be reviewed by NATO Allies in 2029.
Asked by: Baroness Goldie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the internal Ministry of Defence reviews into Ajax will be published.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The safety of our Service personnel remains a top priority for the Ministerial team and the Department.
Investigations into Ajax and a Ministerial review remain ongoing. The investigation teams are conducting their work thoroughly and at pace and they must be given the time and space required to ensure that all information and evidence is considered.
A further update will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Goldie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of delaying the publication of the Defence Investment Plan on the defence industry.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
While the Department continues to work flat out to finalise the DIP, delivery continues, for example progressing always-on munitions factories, delivering the Defence Housing Strategy and Defence Industrial Strategy, and securing agreements to export Typhoon Jets to Türkiye and Type 26 Frigates to Norway. In 2025 we secured over £20 billion in defence exports to allies, expected to be the highest since records began over 40 years ago.
The Department has signed more than 1,000 major defence contracts since July 2024, including 86% with British-based businesses, and spent more than £31 billion with UK industry last year – an above inflation increase in spending.
Asked by: Baroness Goldie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many frigates they plan to have in service on 1 January 2026.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Navy will have seven frigates in service, of which one (HMS KENT) is currently undergoing planned deep maintenance. The new Type 26 and Type 31 frigates are in build in Scotland currently.