Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the feasibility of using the General Atomics MQ-9 for Royal Navy carrier based operations.

Through the MQ-9 International Cooperation Support Partnership, of which the United Kingdom is a signatory, the Royal Navy (RN) has established that the General Atomics MQ-9 can be modified to operate from the Queen Elizabeth Class carriers. As such, the MQ-9 is being considered as a candidate for the RN’s requirement for Carrier Strike Airborne Early Warning following the planned withdrawal of the Crowsnest Airborne Early Warning system when it reaches the end of its service life.