Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the then Secretary of State for Defence of 6 November 2013, Official Report, column 291, whether the estimated build and commissioning costs of the two Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers remains within the £6.2bn budget.

Mr Philip Dunne

The approved cost of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers is £6.2 billion, as announced by the previous Defence Secretary on 6 November 2013 (Official Report, column 251). Whilst there are cost pressures, the Ministry of Defence continues to work closely with Industry to drive the programme to remain within the approved cost.

We expect the First of Class, HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, to be accepted from the Aircraft Carrier Alliance in 2017 and, as reported in the NAO’s Major Project Report 2015, the ship remains on schedule to enter service with the Royal Navy in February 2018. We remain on course to undertake Platform Sea Trials in 2017, commence Fixed Wing Flying Trials with the F35B Lightning II in 2018 and deliver Initial Operating Capability (Carrier Strike) in 2020.