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Military Aircraft

Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the technical ground abort rate was for (a) Harrier and (b) Tornado aircraft in (i) operational and (ii) non-operational environments in each of the last five years. [236195]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how long it takes to scramble the (a) Harrier GR9 and (b) Tornado GR4 from the time of requirement to the notification of the aircraft, when those aircraft are held on GCAS alert. [236550]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The International Security Assistance (ISAF) requirements for Ground Close Air Support (GCAS) alert are met by both aircraft. I am withholding details of the time it takes to scramble these aircraft, as its release would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of our armed forces.

Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what offensive and defensive capabilities the Harrier GR9 has additional to those held by the Tornado GR4; and when the Tornado GR4 will be fitted with these capabilities. [236551]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: There are no significant differences in the offensive and defensive capabilities provided by
17 Nov 2008 : Column 148W
the two aircraft. Like Harrier, the Tornados deploying to Afghanistan will be equipped with theatre specific enhancements. These are being taken forward urgently for the planned deployment next year.

Military Attachés

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) expenditure on and (b) number of defence attachés was in each year since 2003. [234921]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The expenditure on attachés for each year since 2003 is shown in Table 1. Individual attaché costs cannot be disaggregated from the overall budget dating back to 2003 as the associated support costs are given as an overall total for the Defence attaché budget. These additional costs include support staff, travel and subsistence, medical and dental costs and provision for the cost of living allowance for each country.

The number of attachés for each year since 2003 is shown in Table 2.

Table 1
£ million

2003-04

30.040

2004-05

30.791

2005-06

31.030

2006-07

29.373

2007-08

29.707

Notes:
1. The Defence Section in Afghanistan opened in November 2007. There are no costs available from that date as the Defence Section is funded through operational funds which cannot be disaggregated from the overall budget.
2. These costs include estimated costs for personnel funded by the single service funds which cannot be disaggregated from their overall budgets.
3. Final costs for financial year 2008-09 will not be available until after 31 March 2009.
4. All the costs in the table exclude pre-post preparation training costs that fall to the single service budgets; these are assessed to be in the order of £8.7 million at FY 2007-08 prices.
5. All the costs in the table are at their respective financial year prices.


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17 Nov 2008 : Column 151W

17 Nov 2008 : Column 152W
Table 2
Country 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09( 1)

Afghanistan(2)

0

0

0

0

1

1

Albania

1

1

1

1

1

0

Algeria3

0

0

1

1

1

1

Angola

1

1

1

0

0

0

Argentina

2

2

2

2

2

1

Australia

2

2

2

2

2

2

Austria(3)

1

1

1

1

1

3

Bahrain

1

1

1

1

1

1

Bangladesh

0

0

0

1

1

1

Belgium

1

0

0

0

0

0

Barbados(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

Bosnia and Herzegovina

0

0

1

1

1

1

Brazil(3)

2

2

2

1

1

1

Brunei(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

Bulgaria

2

2

2

2

1

1

Canada

2

2

2

2

2

2

Chile(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

China(3)

2

2

2

3

3

3

Colombia(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

Congo, Democratic Republic of(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

Croatia

1

1

1

1

1

0

Cyprus

1

1

1

1

1

1

Czech Republic

2

2

2

1

1

1

Denmark

1

1

1

1

1

1

Egypt

2

2

2

2

2

1

Ethiopia(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

Finland(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

France

3

3

3

3

3

2

Georgia(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

Germany(2)

4

4

4

3

3

3

Ghana(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

Greece

2

2

2

2

2

1

Guatemala

1

1

1

1

1

0

Hungary

2

1

1

1

1

0

India(5)

2

2

2

2

2

2

Indonesia(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

Iraq

0

0

1

1

1

1

Ireland

1

1

1

1

0

0

Israel

2

2

2

2

2

2

Italy(3)

3

2

2

2

2

2

Jamaica(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

Japan

1

1

1

1

1

1

Jordan

2

2

2

2

2

2

Kazakhstan(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

Kenya(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

Korea

2

2

2

2

2

1

Kuwait

1

1

1

1

1

1

Latvia

1

1

1

0

0

0

Lebanon

1

1

1

1

1

1

Lithuania

1

1

1

1

1

1

Macedonia

1

1

1

1

1

0

Malaysia(3)

2

2

2

2

1

1

Morocco(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

Nepal(2)

1

1

2

2

2

2

Netherlands(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

New Zealand(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

Nigeria

1

1

1

1

1

1

Norway

1

1

1

1

1

1

Oman

2

2

2

2

2

2

Pakistan(6)

2

2

2

2

2

3

Philippines

1

1

1

1

0

0

Poland

2

2

2

2

2

1

Portugal(4)

1

1

1

1

1

0

Qatar

1

1

1

1

1

1

Romania(3)

2

2

2

2

1

1

Russia(3)

6

6

6

6

6

5

Saudi Arabia

3

2

2

2

2

2

Serbia3

1

1

1

1

1

1

Sierra Leone(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

Singapore

1

1

1

1

1

1

Slovakia

2

2

2

2

1

0

Slovenia

1

1

0

0

0

0

South Africa(3)

2

2

2

2

2

2

Spain

2

2

2

2

2

1

Sri Lanka

1

1

1

1

1

1

Sudan

0

0

0

1

1

1

Sweden

1

1

1

1

1

1

Switzerland

1

1

0

0

0

0

Syria

1

1

1

1

1

1

Thailand

1

1

1

1

1

0

Turkey

2

2

2

2

2

2

Uganda(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

Ukraine

2

2

2

2

2

1

United Arab Emirates

1

1

1

1

1

1

United States of America

8

8

8

8

8

8

UK Mission to UN New York

2

2

2

2

2

2

Uzbekistan

1

1

1

0

0

0

Venezuela

1

1

1

0

0

0

Yemen

0

0

0

1

1

1

Zimbabwe(3)

1

1

1

1

1

1

Totals

129

125

127

124

119

105

Notes:
1. Correct figures as at 7 November 2008
2 Attachés that are funded by operational funds or the Single Services.
3 These attachés have non-residential accreditation responsibilities in other countries.
4 These countries’ attachés are resident in London
5 Two Senior advisers (the Defence and Military Adviser and the Naval and Air Adviser) are supported by an Assistant Defence Adviser
6 Two Senior advisors (the Defence and Military Adviser and the Naval and Air Adviser) are supported by an Assistant Defence Adviser. An additional adviser is now at post in the role of Assistant Military Adviser.
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