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Regimental Establishment Levels
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Army regiments are currently at their full establishment level; and what is the percentage shortfall in each of the other regiments. [19817]
Mr. Soames: The 9th/12th Lancers, The Corps of Royal Engineers, the Highlanders, the Kings Regiment, The Duke of Wellington's Regiment, The Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment and the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps are currently manned to their full establishment of soldiers. The percentage surplus or shortfall of soldiers against establishment on 1 February 1996 is shown for each regular army regiment and corps in the table. Officer manning is generally satisfactory with a small surplus.
| Regiment/Corps | Percentage shortfall/ surplus |
|---|---|
| The Household Cavalry | -9.1 |
| The Queen's Dragoon Guards | -5.0 |
| The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards | --6.9 |
| The Royal Dragoon Guards | -11.5 |
| The Queen's Royal Hussars | -11.8 |
| The 9th/12th Lancers | +4.3 |
| The King's Royal Hussars | -10.5 |
| The Light Dragoons | -1.8 |
| The Queen's Royal Lancers | -2.8 |
| 1st Royal Tank Regiment | -9.0 |
| 2nd Royal Tank Regiment | -3.5 |
| The Royal Regiment of Artillery | -7.7 |
| Corps of Royal Engineers | +.2 |
| The Royal Corps of Signals | -4.7 |
| The Grenadier Guards | -2.3 |
| The Coldstream Guards | -2.1 |
| The Scots Guards | -9.5 |
| The Irish Guards | -5.3 |
| The Welsh Guards | -8.5 |
| The Royal Scots | -10.7 |
| The Royal Highland Fusiliers | -13.8 |
| The King's Own Scottish Borderers | -7.0 |
| The Black Watch | -12.3 |
| The Highlanders | +2.3 |
| The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders | -16.6 |
| The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment | -13.6 |
| The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers | -5.9 |
| The Royal Anglian Regiment | -7.6 |
| The King's Own Royal Border Regiment | -7.1 |
| The King's Regiment | +4.5 |
| The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire | -7.2 |
| The Green Howards | -4.8 |
| The Queen's Lancashire Regiment | -7.1 |
| The Duke of Wellington's Regiment | +4.2 |
| The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment | -1.6 |
| The Cheshire Regiment | -7.8 |
| The Royal Welch Fusiliers | -7.6 |
| The Royal Regiment of Wales | -11.9 |
| The Gloucester Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment | +3.0 |
| The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment | --1.1 |
| The Staffordshire Regiment | -7.2 |
| The Light Infantry | -7.6 |
| The Royal Green Jackets | -16.0 |
| The Royal Irish Regiment | -10.2 |
| The Parachute Regiment | -18.0 |
| The Brigade of Gurkhas | -1.2 |
| The Army Air Corps | -8.3 |
| The Royal Logistic Corps | -2.6 |
| The Royal Army Medical Corps | -1.3 |
| Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers | -1.7 |
| The Adjutant General's Corps | -2.5 |
| The Intelligence Corps | -5.6 |
| Corps of Army Musicians | -.1 |
| Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps | +.5 |
12 Mar 1996 : Column: 508
Argentina (Arms Sales)
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) arms and (b) arms-related contracts were approved by Her Majesty's Government with the Argentine Government between the years 1979 and 1982. [19811]
Mr. Arbuthnot: The Ministry of Defence is not the licensing authority for exports and does not otherwise normally approve contracts between exporters and overseas customers. My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has set out details of contracts for the supply of defence equipment to Argentina in the relevant period, Official Report, 6 March 1996, column 228.
51 Squadron, Royal Air Force
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is the role and function of 51 Squadron, Royal Air Force; what are its annual running costs; and from which subheads of which votes these funds are taken; [19960]
- (2) how many aircraft are currently assigned to 51 Squadron, Royal Air Force; what plans there are to increase the number of aircraft assigned to this squadron; what are the estimated costs of such an increase; and from which subheads of which votes these funds will be taken; [19959]
(3) on what date 51 Squadron, Royal Air Force, was established. [19961]
(4) what is the current assignment of 51 Squadron, Royal Air Force. [19958]
Mr. Soames: No. 51 Squadron, Royal Air Force, was reformed on 21 August 1958 to operate electronic reconnaissance aircraft. The squadron currently comprises two Nimrod R aircraft; a Nimrod MR2 from storage is being converted to replace a third which was lost on 16 May 1995.
The squadron's forecast running costs for the current financial year are approximately £7.1 million, and are included in Air Officer Commander-in-Chief Strike Command's top level budget, vote 1 section D1.
There are no plans to increase the squadron's complement of three aircraft.
12 Mar 1996 : Column: 509
Mr. Redmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what maximum authorised levels of (a) deployed RAF personnel and (b) deployed RAF combat aircraft are being requested of the Canadian authorities under the new multinational memorandum of understanding governing training activities at Canadian forces base, Goose bay, Labrador. [19745]
Mr. Soames:
The new memorandum of understanding concerning allied military activity at Goose bay specifies that an annual maximum of 18,000 training sorties, of which no more than 15,000 may be at low level, can be flown by all the allied users. The MOU does not specify a maximum level of deployed RAF personnel or deployed RAF combat aircraft and does not require the RAF to request such levels.
Mr. Redmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for Royal Air Force training deployments to United States marine corps air station Yuma, Arizona. [19637]
Mr. Soames:
No formal invitations have been received from the United States authorities for future RAF participation in exercises at Marine Corps air station, Yuma.
Mr. Redmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many investigations were carried out by the Royal Air Force police flying complaints flight in 1994; and how many breaches of low flying regulations were confirmed by these investigations. [19639]
Mr. Soames:
The RAF police flying complaints flight carried out 632 investigations in 1994 which confirmed 70 breaches of low flying regulations.
Mr. Redmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the changes made to the minimum weather requirements for visual low flying since 1989. [19636]
Mr. Soames:
I refer the hon. Member to the letter the then Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my noble Friend, the Viscount Cranborne, wrote to him on 29 November 1993, a copy of which was placed in the Library of the House. There have been no changes to minimum weather requirements for visual low flying since that date.
Mr. Redmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the nationalities of military aircraft booked into (a) area 5E and (b) area 3A of the night low flying system between 1800 hours and 1930 hours GMT on 6 January 1995. [19746]
Mr. Soames:
No military aircraft were booked into night low flying sectors 3A and 5E between the times stated on 6 January 1995.
Mr. Redmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints were received about low flying aircraft in the vicinity of Darlington on 12 July 1994. [19640]
12 Mar 1996 : Column: 510
Mr. Redmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many flights originated from, or bound for, Warton airfield were recorded by the military air traffic control authorities between 1700 hours and 2000 hours GMT on 6 January 1995. [19748]
Mr. Soames:
Military air traffic control records of this type are normally retained for a maximum of three months. Consequently, the information requested is no longer available.
Mr. Redmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the board of inquiry into the accident to a Tornado GR 1A on 1 September 1994 obtained evidence on the routes flown by other aircraft booked to fly in low flying area 14 at the time of the accident. [19754]
Mr. Soames:
Yes. This was considered fully by the board of inquiry which concluded that there was no evidence to suggest that another aircraft was involved in the accident.
Mr. Redmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the extent, nature and purpose of Royal Air Force participation in Exercise Arid Thunder in December 1995. [19638]
Mr. Soames:
Exercise Arid Thunder 1995-96 was divided into four two-week periods. RAF participation was as follows:
| Unit | Dates |
|---|---|
| 13 Squadron | 3-17 November 1995 |
| 14 Squadron | 20 November-1 December 1995 |
| 617 Squadron | 3-15 December 1995 |
| 17 Squadron | 19 February-1 March 1996 |
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