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Defence
Afghanistan
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his assessment is of the current strength and quality of the Afghan National Army; and if he will make a statement. [81139]
Des Browne: Around 28,200 Afghan National Army soldiers have been trained and equipped under a US-led development programme. The five Afghan National Army regional commands are now operational. Afghan troops, supported by the UK’s operational mentor and liaison team, have already performed well alongside UK forces in the south of Afghanistan.
The international community is investing significant resources in increasing the Afghan National Army’s capability still further. The UK’s contribution to this includes non-commissioned officer and junior officer training in Kabul, and an operational mentor and liaison team in Helmand.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his assessment is of the technological capabilities of the weaponry used by (a) the Taliban and (b) al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. [81140]
Des Browne: We continuously monitor the weaponry used by insurgent forces in Afghanistan. To date a wide range of weapons have been used including small arms, rocket propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices. Mostly these are low technology weapons and components that are widely available.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his assessment is of the possible threat posed by the infiltration of experienced insurgents of the Iraq conflict into Helmand Province. [81141]
Des Browne: There is no credible evidence that insurgents or terrorists from Iraq have infiltrated into Afghanistan.
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the order of battle is for the deployment of UK forces in Afghanistan. [81409]
Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend, the then Secretary of State for Defence (John Reid), on26 January 2006, Official Report, columns 1529-33, which outlines the UK forces order of battle in Afghanistan.
In addition I also refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statements made by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces on 25 April 2006, Official Report, column 35WS, announcing the extension to March 2007 of six UK Harriers to provide support to both the International Security Assistance Force and Operation Enduring Freedom and, on 15 June 2006, Official Report, columns 67-68WS, announcing the deployment of a further 130 personnel from the RAF Regiment to provide a specialised force protection capability at Kandahar Airfield.
As with all deployments, any significant changes to this will be announced in the House in due course.
Armed Forces (Overseas Recruitment)
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which countries provide servicemen and women for the British armed forces; and what agreements govern their terms and conditions of service. [82011]
Mr. Watson: With the exception of Gurkhas, to be accepted for employment in the UK Armed Forces an applicant, at all times since birth, must have been British or a Commonwealth citizen, or a Republic of Ireland national. A waiver of these requirements may be granted, in exceptional circumstances, to applicants who are British or Commonwealth citizens, or Republic of Ireland nationals, at the time of their application. With the exception of Gurkhas, all personnel serve under the same terms and conditions of service regardless of nationality.
British Army Gurkhas are recruited in Nepal and remain Nepalese citizens throughout their service, serving under their own Gurkha terms and conditions of service, which have evolved over the years and are based on the provisions of the Tri-Partite Agreement of 1947 between the Governments of UK, India and Nepal. They are currently the subject of a wide ranging review.
Army
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 18 April 2006, Official Report, column 12W, on the army, how many of each type of vehicle and aircraft are (a) operational and (b) available for immediate deployment. [65523]
Mr.
Ingram [holding answer 26 April 2006]: The number
of vehicles and aircraft which were operational at the end of March
2006 is shown in the table. “Operational” is defined as
equipment that is not in depth maintenance or in storage and it
includes equipment deployed in operational theatres. The Army
manages its armoured fleet in accordance with the principles of whole
fleet management which enables armoured vehicles to be made available
in sufficient numbers to meet operational requirements as they
arise.
The numbers of aircraft capable of immediate operational deployment are shown in brackets.
| Number | ||
Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance Tracked (CVR) (T) All variants | ||
| (1)
Includes 31 held by STRIKE
Command. | ||
Army Recruitment and Retention
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total (a) outflow to civilian life and (b) recruitment was of the regular (i) infantry, (ii) Royal Artillery, (iii) Royal Engineers, (iv) Royal Corps of Signals, (v) Royal Armoured Corps, (vi) Household Cavalry, (vii) Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers and (viii) Army Medical Services in each year since 1997. [81133]
Mr. Watson: The information is as follows:
| Outflow to civil life from UK Regular Army since 1997 by financial year | |||||||||
| 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
| Intake to untrained strength UK Regular Army since 1997 by financial year | |||||||||
| 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
Total officers and officer designates intake to untrained strength can only be shown as most officer cadets are not allocated an Arm and Service until completion of training at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.
UK Regular Army includes nursing services and excludes full-time reserve service personnel, Gurkhas, The Home Service Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment and Mobilised Reservists.
The data have been rounded to the nearest 10, numbers ending in ‘5’ have been rounded to nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias.
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