Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which Naval Air Squadrons are scheduled for (a) disbandment and (b) merger; what the timetables are for those disbandments and mergers; and if he will make a statement.

As part of preparations to operate from the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers, including the arrival of the Crowsnest surveillance system, we continue to develop the optimum structure of the Merlin Helicopter Force. Current planning assumptions are that 829 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) will decommission in 2018. All three 829 NAS Flights (personnel and aircraft ) will be re-distributed across the other Merlin Helicopter Force Squadrons. The overall size of the force structure is planned to remain the same.