Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how long it will take to (a) acquire aircraft and (b) reinstate skills following a decision to reacquire maritime patrol aircraft.

The period from a decision to acquire to entry into service would depend on the platform selected, affordability in the Defence programme and commercial arrangements. It is therefore not possible to provide a specific timeline.

The UK has since 2011 run a Seedcorn programme whereby RAF personnel are embedded in the Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) capabilities of a number of close allies. This initiative will mitigate the long lead time usually taken to establish a suitably qualified and experienced cadre if there is a future requirement to regenerate a UK MPA capability.

The previous MPA capability, the Nimrod MR2, was retired by the previous Government. It's successor programme, the Nimrod MR4A, was hundreds of millions of Pounds over budget with significant technical challenges present to achieve air worthiness certification.