Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Smith Excerpts

Monday 17th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Dunne]

As the hon. Gentleman will know from his work on the Defence Committee, the orders for the aircraft will depend on the capability requirements of the customer nations. Italy is the European nation that is already procuring the same variant as we are; other nations that have declared an interest thus far have different capability requirements.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

How many joint strike fighter aircraft do the Government plan to have operable by 2020?

[Mr Dunne]

The Government will make their decisions on the next substantial order by the time of the strategic defence review. We expect to place an order for the first squadron this autumn, so by 2020 we are talking about an expected order of 48 aircraft.