Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect of the time taken for Block 3F testing of the F-35 Lighting II programme on the UK's planning Initial Operating Capability.

The Ministry of Defence remains in regular dialogue with the US Department of Defense on all aspects of the F-35 programme. The System Development and Demonstration phase is currently progressing well.

The role of the US Director Operational Test & Evaluation (OT&E) is to provide independent analysis and make recommendations regarding the readiness of the F-35 to begin the formal phase of initial OT&E. The US Joint Program Office has reviewed his latest reports and the issues identified are being addressed. The F-35 Programme Executive Officer has recently affirmed his intent to begin initial OT&E in early 2018, and initial operating capability for the UK F-35B, at Block 3F standard, remains on schedule for the end of 2018.