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16 May 2003 : Column 444W—continued

Eurofighter

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of total UK expenditure on (a) research and development for and (b) the production of the Eurofighter has been spent in Wales.[Transferred] [113118]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 13 May 2003]: Payment arrangements for Eurofighter Typhoon are managed by the prime contractors. The Ministry of Defence does not have visibility of the geographical allocation of work (and hence expenditure) within the United Kingdom.

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had regarding a change in the UK's purchase of Eurofighter Typhoons from 232 machines. [111587]

Mr. Ingram: We keep the size and shape of the forward equipment programme under constant review. Our commitment to the Typhoon programme remains undiminished.

Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures the Government is taking to ensure that the (a) cost of weapons integration and (b) benefits of inter-operability in the Eurofighter Typhoon project are shared equitably between the participating countries. [112441]

Mr. Ingram: The cost of weapons integration is shared between the countries electing to fit those weapons under arrangements set out in Memoranda of Understanding between the participating countries.

Typhoon is designed to be interoperable with all the participating countries' air forces and each country will have both common and non-common weaponry requirements to meet their individual needs. Commonality of software and hardware will benefit the air forces when the aircraft are deployed and makes it cheaper and quicker to adopt, at a later stage, weapons that are in use with other

participating countries.

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Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft the Government intends to purchase; when the order for tranche 2 will be placed; and what progress is being made on the development of a ground attack version of the aircraft. [111912]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 8 May 2003]: Under the four nation memoranda of understanding, the United Kingdom has undertaken to acquire 232 aircraft out of a total production of 620. We expect that the four partner nations will place the order for Tranche 2 aircraft, of which the UK share is 89, later this year. Typhoon aircraft are planned progressively to incorporate ground attack capabilities and early aircraft are planned to be upgraded through a retro-fit programme.

Falkland Islands

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what Royal Navy warships are on station at the Falkland Islands; and what Royal Fleet Auxiliary support is available. [112014]

Mr. Ingram: The Falkland Island Patrol Vessel, HMS Leeds Castle, is currently on station providing a permanent Royal Navy presence in and around the Falkland Islands Area of Responsibility (FIAOR). The Atlantic Patrol Task (South) (APT(S)) tanker, RFA Gold Rover, is scheduled to deploy to the South Atlantic in early May 2003 while the APT(S) duty ship, HMS Lancaster, is scheduled to deploy in early July 2003.

Far East Naval Deployment

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which vessels will continue with the Naval Task Group 03 deployment to the Far East. [112083]

Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 11 April 2003, Official Report, columns 38–39WS, concerning the redeployment of HMS Marlborough and HMS Liverpool, together with RFA Grey Rover, from operations in the Gulf to the Far East. These ships constitute a reduced Naval Task Group (NTG) 03. Both HMS Marlborough and HMS Liverpool were part of the original NTG 03 deployment before being called upon, with the rest of the Task Group, for contingent operations in support of Operation TELIC.

Gibraltar

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are for the use of the Gibraltar base in potential future conflicts and peacekeeping operations. [112011]

Mr. Ingram: Gibraltar has been and continues to be an important overseas base for the British armed forces. It contains valuable support, logistic, communications and training facilities, which will be used for future missions as appropriate.

Guided Multiple Rocket Launch System

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the (a) forecast in-service date,

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(b) forecast date of main gate approval and (c) forecast cost of the assessment phase of the GMLRS; and how many rockets will be procured. [111828]

Mr. Ingram: The in service date for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) will not be set until the project receives its main investment approval to proceed to development and manufacture (Main Gate), but current estimates are that the capability will become available in the second half of this decade; the project is due for Main Gate consideration later this year.

Initial approval of GMLRS pre-dates the SMART acquisition process. The United Kingdom participated in a United States led Engineering Manufacture and Development Programme which was of a greater scope than an assessment phase; the cost of the UK's participation in this phase was around £20 million.

The number of rockets to be procured will be in the region of 5,000; the actual number will be subject to approval at Main Gate.

Hercules

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on centre-of-gravity problems with the RAF's short-fuselage C-130J Hercules C5 aircraft. [112684]

Mr. Ingram: The centre of gravity for all transport aircraft has to be managed carefully to ensure that aircraft remain within safe operating parameters.

The Hercules C-130J Mk5 is cleared for use in accordance with the Military Airworthiness Release and Release to Service, which detail the limitations and configurations of the aircraft operation. The centre-of-gravity of the Mk5 is a known limiting factor on certain aircraft configurations and is overcome by the use of ballast.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reports he has received of squadron pilots refusing to fly the RAF's short-fuselage C-130J Hercules C5 aircraft in certain operational configurations owing to concerns over centre-of-gravity problems. [112685]

Mr. Ingram: None.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the fleet utilisation of the RAF's short-fuselage C-130J Hercules C5 aircraft was in the last 12 months; and what the utilisation was of (a) the long-fuselage Hercules C4 fleet and (b) the remaining C-130K variants. [112686]

Mr. Ingram: Fleet utilisation is not a term in common usage within the RAF. Officials have therefore interpreted this to be the average number of hours flown over the last 12 months per aircraft for each Hercules type.

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Aircraft Type	Average hours flown per aircraft
Hercules C-130J C5 (short-fuselage)	436.50
Hercules C-130J C4 (long-fuselage)	1,033.93
Hercules C-13 OK Cl	508.80
Hercules C-13 OK C3	807.20

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the RAF's fleet of short-fuselage C-130J Hercules C5 aircraft. [112692]

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Mr. Ingram: The Hercules C-130J Mk 5 aircraft came into service with the RAF in 2000 and forms part of the combined Hercules C-130J and C-130K fleet. The Hercules fleet provides a strategic lift capability for the RAF and it is currently planned that the C-130J Mk 5 will have a service life well into the present century.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many hours have been flown in each of the last 12 months by (a) the RAF's short-fuselage C-130J Hercules C5 aircraft, (b) the long-fuselage Hercules C4s and (c) C-130K Hercules variants. [112693]

Mr. Ingram: The following table shows the number of flying hours achieved for each Hercules aircraft type over the last 12 months:

	Total hours flown per month by each aircraft type
Aircraft type/number of aircraft	April	May	June	July	August	September	October
C5(J)/10	290	377	401	301	384	476	320
C4(J)/15	1,045	886	1,039	1,355	1,252	1,332	1,237
C3(K)/20	2,131	1,654	1,492	1,237	1,101	1,424	1,546
C1(K)/5	318	264	487	127	200	373	58

	Total hours flown per month by each aircraft type
Aircraft type/number of aircraft	November	December	January	February	March	Total flying hours
C5(J)/10	254	194	409	325	634	4,365
C4(J)/15	1,177	1,098	1,379	2,112	1,597	15,509
C3(K)/20	1,215	1,051	1,021	1,059	1,213	16,144
C1(K)/5	36	141	218	121	201	2,544
Total Hercules flying hours during last 12 months	38,562

Source:

Strike Command Monthly summary of statistics

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