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Unmanned Air Vehicles
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what plans he has for separate programmes for the Royal Navy's UAV to support its new carrier battle groups and the RAF's UAV to supply ISTAR over extended ranges to the Future Offensive Air Capability; and if he will make a statement; [139724]
- (2) if he will make a statement on plans for the RAF's and RN's joint force UAV; what is the cost of the programme in relation to the overall cost of the single UAV capability, Watchkeeper, including BAE Systems' Phoenix UAV; and if he will make a statement. [139706]
Dr. Moonie: The defence requirement is for a balanced, robust and layered Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) capability that meets the information needs of all operation commanders and supports their decisions on force protection and targeting of weapons systems.
The requirement for a future ISTAR UAV system to support commanders in the land and littoral battlespace is known as Watchkeeper. We are considering arrangements for disseminating the information we would derive from Watchkeeper, some of which, for example on targeting, may be of value to maritime task forces operating at sea.
At present, we do not plan to procure a maritime version of Watchkeeper although work is continuing to determine whether a maritime UAV would be a
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cost-effective solution to meeting part of the maritime ISTAR requirement. Also, we have no plans to procure a UAV to provide an independent ISTAR capability for the Future Offensive Air System (FOAS), although it is possible that an element of FOAS would be an unmanned combat air vehicle. The ISTAR requirements of maritime task forces and deep strike weapons systems will be met within the framework of our future overall ISTAR capability.
Part of the current assessment phase for Watchkeeper includes studying whether the existing Phoenix UAV system should form part of the solution of the requirement.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what ISTAR capabilities are operational for the short range UAVs, Spectator (Formation) and Sender (Battle Group) in the Watchkeeper programme; what is the estimated cost and the timetable for development and production of the short range UAVs; and if he will make a statement. [140710]
Mr. Spellar: The Watchkeeper programme is currently assessing the mix of Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) which, alongside other assets, will be required to support future Formation level and Battle Group Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) requirements. In so doing, the assessment will determine the optimum range, or combination of range characteristics, to be specified for the UAVs. The Phoenix system, as the only UAV asset currently in the inventory, was originally procured with the primary function of providing a Target Acquisition and Surveillance capability but subsequently has shown sufficient flexibility to meet some other aspects of the ISTAR requirements. In undertaking the current assessment phase, the Watchkeeper programme is evaluating to what degree Phoenix may, or may not, contribute to the future UAV mix. Until the assessment phase is complete and all the options for providing the UAV contribution to the ISTAR capability have been evaluated, it will not be possible to give definitive estimates of either cost or time associated with the development and production of UAVs.
EU Rapid Reaction Force
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what UK forces will be allocated to the proposed European rapid reaction corps. [139948]
Mr. Hoon: The UK is not allocating forces to an EU rapid reaction corps.
As was announced to the House on 20 November 2000, Official Report, column 10W, the UK has identified a pool of forces and capabilities which would enable it to contribute effectively to crisis management operations in support of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy, where NATO as a whole is not engaged. UK participation in any particular operation, and the nature of our contribution, would be matters for decision by the UK Government in the light of circumstances at the time.
In the maximum scale operation envisaged at Helsinki--a corps level deployment of up to 60,000 ground troops--the UK component could be around 12,500 strong. Maritime and air deployments of up to 18 warships and 72 combat aircraft could be made in addition.
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Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the use of EU insignia by UK armed forces on peacekeeping operations. [139947]
Mr. Hoon: British troops on EU-led crisis management operations would continue to operate under the UK flag and wear British uniforms and cap badges. Identifying insignia or armbands are often worn for NATO-led operations, and always with the UN, to identify the troops as belonging to that operation. There have been no discussions in the EU about adopting a similar approach for EU-led operations.
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what effect on the expenditure on armed forces by EU countries his Department has estimated to result from the creation of a rapid reaction corps separate from NATO. [139957]
Mr. Hoon: There has been no creation of a European rapid reaction corps.
The EU, with the assistance of NATO, has identified the pool of forces and capabilities required to carry out the full range of Petersberg tasks. EU member states have nominated those elements of their own national forces they believe could contribute to this requirement and have committed themselves to make further improvements to meet a defined level of capability (the "Headline Goal") by 2003.
Decisions on spending in response to this commitment are a matter for individual countries. Next year, however, according to figures given to NATO by its member nations, defence spending will rise in real terms in 11 of the European Union member states.
Defence Medical Services
Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library the outcome of his Department's work referred to on page 5 of its paper "Defence Medical Services: A Strategy for the Future" under the heading "Numbers for the Future". [139702]
Dr. Moonie [holding answer 22 November 2000]: As a result of the work referred to on page 4 of "Defence Medical Services: A Strategy for the Future" the Department has found that personnel requirement for the Defence Medical Services, resulting from work initiated by the Strategic Defence Review, currently stands at 8,543. This requirement can be broken down into the main categories as follows: Doctors--1,250; Dentists--304; Nurses--2.010; Medical Support Officers--344; Technicians--1,266; and Medical Assistants/Combat Medical Technicians--3,369. These figures include those required for command and staff posts and the manning and training margins.
Further analysis of potential casualty rates in different operational circumstances, and of resulting demands on medical resources, is a continuing task and may result in detailed adjustments to the assessed personnel requirements of the Defence Medical Services.
SA80
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the modified SA80 weapons will enter service with the armed forces. [140020]
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Mr. Hoon [holding answer 24 November 2000]: It is planned that the first 40,000 of the modified SA80 Weapon System will enter service by August 2002.
Tornado
Mr. Alasdair Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will implement the safety recommendations resulting from the investigation into the crash of RAF Tornado ZD809 on 14 October 1999. [140439]
Dr. Moonie: The RAF Board of Inquiry recommended a thorough review of bad weather low-level abort procedures. This has been carried out and where appropriate guidance has been revised in the relevant publications.
The Board of Inquiry also recommended that the fitting of a Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) to all RAF aircraft be considered. The Jaguar, Tristar and the C130J aircraft have all had GPWS fitted, and it is planned to fit such a system to the Tornado GR4, Harrier, Tornado F3 and Eurofighter. The installation of GPWS into other current RAF aircraft is not being pursued for a variety of reasons, such as the length of service life remaining and compatibility with their existing avionics packages.
Defence Budget (Wales)
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of the defence budget was spent in Wales in the most recent year for which figures are available (a) in actual terms and (b) as a percentage of the total defence budget. [140436]
Mr. Spellar: The Department is organised financially into Top Level Budgets reflecting major outputs rather than geographical location. Expenditure records reflect this organisation and have no relationship to regional boundaries. Nevertheless, the Defence Bills Agency paid defence contractors based in Wales some £158 million during 1999-2000, which represents 0.7 per cent. of Defence expenditure. These figures do not take account of purchases by sub-contractors.
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