Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on the future fighter programme.

Since the announcement of the Combat Air Strategy at the Farnborough Airshow in July, the Ministry of Defence has established a team, based in Head Office to lead the acquisition of next generation Combat Air capability. This team has achieved the first major milestone laid out in Strategy - delivery of the Strategic Outline (Business) Case by the end of 2018. In parallel, the team has established new fora to explore and understand opportunities for collaboration on next generation Combat Air capability with international partners.