Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average waiting time is for a pilot between selection for and beginning Typhoon flight training; and what the longest time is that a pilot has waited to begin that training.

A pilot is selected to fly Typhoon on completion of their Advanced Fast Jet Training. The average waiting time between selection to fly Typhoon and beginning training on the Typhoon Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) was 28 weeks, with the longest waiting time being 49 weeks. The wait between selection and starting the Typhoon OCU has begun to reduce, with the most recent wait time being approximately eight weeks.