Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many planes was the F-35 training squadron reduced by in order to facilitate the recent deployment of the Carrier Strike Group.

The Lightning Fleet operates as a total Force, individual airframes are not permanently allocated to units. They are allocated on a day-to-day basis to meet daily tasking requirements of each unit. Throughout the period of the Carrier Strike Group deployment the Operational Conversion Unit 207 Squadron has operated sufficient airframes to meet all its planned training and course output requirements.