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23 Feb 2009 : Column 32W—continued
In addition to the battalions shown in the table there are three incremental Guards companies which are primarily for public duties but which can also be used to augment the other Guards battalions as required.
| Unit | Actual strength | Number of deployable troops |
The figures in both tables include personnel filling all roles within each battalion, not just infantrymen. Some of these roles are by their nature non-deployable, for instance forming part of the rear party of a deployed unit.
Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to the public purse of the UK’s involvement in military action in Iraq has been in each of the last five years. [256238]
Mr. Hutton: The audited outturn for the net additional costs of military operations in Iraq for each of the last five years is published in the relevant annual report and accounts, as set out in the following table.
| Iraq | |||
| £ million | |||
| Resource costs( 1) | Capital equipment | Total | |
| (1) ‘Resource’ includes both near cash and non-cash costs. | |||
Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2009, Official Report, column 509W, on the Joint Strike Fighter, what estimate he has made of the effect of the recent changes in the value of sterling against the US dollar on the cost of the development phase of the Joint Strike Fighter programme. [257519]
Mr. Quentin Davies: Since the UK joined the development phase of the joint strike fighter programme in 2001 we have benefited significantly from the strength of the pound against the dollar and as a result forecasted costs are still expected to remain within the approved level. As the UK contributions to this phase of the programme are largely complete, I do not anticipate a significant impact.
Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability Programme
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the planning assumption date for each element of the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability craft is. [257682]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) programme is in its assessment phase. It is MOD policy not to publish internal planning assumption dates while programmes are in this phase and prior to the main investment decision being taken.
Military Aircraft
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many air-to-air refuelling sorties were flown by the (a) Tornado and (b) Harrier fleets in the United Kingdom in each month of each of the last five financial years; [248571]
(2) what the rate of rejection of eco-engines from first line in the United Kingdom was in each week of each of the last five financial years; [248526]
(3) how much aviation fuel was transferred to the Tornado air defence and ground attack fleets during air-to-air refuelling operations in the United Kingdom in each week of each of the last five financial years; [248527]
(4) how much aviation fuel was used by the Tornado air defence and ground attack fleets in the United Kingdom in each week of each of the last five financial years; [248528]
(5) how much aviation fuel was consumed by the Harrier fleet in the United Kingdom in each week of each of the last five financial years; [248577]
(6) what the rate of rejection of RB 199 aero engines from first line was in the United Kingdom in each week of each of the last five financial years. [248585]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I will write to the hon. Member.
Substantive answer from Bob Ainsworth to David Lidington:
I undertook to write to you in answer to your six Parliamentary Questions on 19 January 2009, Official Report, column 1051W, requesting information about fuel consumption and engine rejection rates for the Harrier and Tornado fleets.
You asked for a range of detailed and specific information about fuel consumption, much of which is not held centrally in the format requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, you have since indicated that your main interest in asking about fuel consumption was to establish whether there is an unjustified increase in RAF flying patterns towards the end of a financial year, designed to ensure that all available fuel is consumed and to justify future fuel budgets. Relevant data are readily available showing the volume of fuel transferred on the ground and during air-to-air refuelling (AAR) with UK tankers, for the Harrier, Tornado GR4 and Tornado F3 fleets for each financial year. This indicates fuel consumption trends by month across financial years since 2005-06. Data prior to 2005-06 are not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
These data are set out in the following tables. To better show the trends they have also been presented in graphs for each financial year in an annex to this letter. It should be noted that the figures provided do not include fuel transferred from foreign tankers, for example during NATO exercises. They also do not include data for AAR consumption by 14 Squadron (Tornado GR4) based at RAF Lossiemouth, which are not available. Additionally, due to the relatively small level of consumption, figures for the Fast Jet Weapons Operational Evaluation Units are only recorded annually and so have not been included, as to do so would not assist in analysing any possible month on month trends. Because the figures which are missing are relatively small we do not consider them to be statistically significant.
| Fuel transferred (million litres) | |||
| Tornado F3 | Tornado GR4 | Harrier GR7/9 | |
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