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11 Mar 2010 : Column 460W—continued
On an occasion when no aircraft was available, any calls for assistance received by the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre at RAF Kinloss would have been channelled to RAF Stations at Lossiemouth or Boulmer or to the Maritime Coastguard Agency at Stornoway.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (a) how many S-92 helicopters his Department plans to procure for the UK-based search and rescue helicopter task and (b) where those helicopters will be based. [321335]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The future joint Ministry of Defence/Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MOD/MCA) Search and Rescue Helicopter service will be provided by the contractor Soteria under a service contract - MOD/MCA will not be procuring any helicopters. It will be the contractor's responsibility to ensure, throughout
the life of the contract, that they have sufficient helicopters to meet the requirement to be able to field one helicopter to incidents from each base during its operating hours. The helicopters will be based at RAF Boulmer, RMB Chivenor, RNAS Culdrose, Glasgow Airport, Leconfield, Lee On Solent, RAF Lossiemouth, Portland, Stornoway, Sumburgh, RAF Valley and Wattisham Airfield.
Armed Forces: Vehicles
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many vehicle urgent operational requirements of each type have been (a) ordered and (b) delivered to Headquarters Land Forces since 2006. [319489]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The breakdown of UOR vehicles by each type ordered and delivered since 2006 is as follows:
| Vehicle | Total q ty o rdered | Number of UOR procurements | Date of first order | Achieved/f orecast date of last delivery to MOD/user | Qty issued to Purple Gate | Qty delivered to land forces |
The quantities delivered to land forces are for whole vehicle UOR platforms and do not include details of those vehicles delivered to MOD, awaiting receipt and inspection by land. It should be noted that while land forces is the major recipient of many of these UOR procurements, vehicles are also delivered to other defence users. Also excluded are non UOR vehicles which have had UORs added to them. In addition, I am withholding details of covert vehicles, civilian armoured vehicles, EOD vehicles and special forces procurements as this could compromise operational security.
Armoured Fighting Vehicles
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) when he expects the delivery of the order for the Light Protected Patrol Vehicle to be completed; [321708]
(2) pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 15 December 2009, Official Report, column 802, on Future Defence Programme, whether the £280 million funding for the new vehicles includes funding for the Light Protected Patrol Vehicle; [321721]
(3) when he expects the assessment phase of the Light Protected Patrol Vehicle programme to be completed; [321722]
(4) what the cost of the Light Protected Patrol Vehicle order is to (a) his Department's core budget and (b) the contingency reserve; [321723]
(5) whether a target (a) main gate and (b) in-service date has been set for the Light Protected Patrol Vehicle; [321724]
(6) how many tranches will form the full order of the Light Protected Patrol Vehicle; and what the total number of vehicles will be. [321725]
Mr. Quentin Davies: Two contenders, which could fill the Light Protected Patrol Vehicle (LPPV) requirement, are currently being assessed as part of a Concept Vehicle Evaluation. It is expected that this assessment phase will be complete in early April 2010. It is currently assessed that 200 LPPV will meet the need in Afghanistan. These 200 vehicles will form the first batch ordered under an Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) as soon as the design was ready, in order to get them into theatre as quickly as possible.
Until the full military requirement has been refined we judge that it makes sense to order an initial batch of 200 vehicles with a view to further buys in future. Buying vehicles in tranches allows us to learn lessons, to modify the vehicle if necessary and helps speed up the delivery of future orders.
Due to commercial sensitivities, and while the full requirement is being refined, I am unable to comment on the likely cost of the full LPPV order, or the funding arrangements. I can, however, confirm that the initial batch of 200 vehicles will be funded from the Treasury reserve as a UOR. This will be over and above the £280 million for additional equipment announced by the Secretary of State for Defence on 15 December 2009. A business case will be submitted for the initial 200 vehicles in the coming weeks, once the assessment is complete. As the contract for the LPPV requirement has yet to be let, delivery details cannot be confirmed at this stage as they are still subject to commercial negotiations, but we intend that they should be delivered in 2011.
Departmental ICT
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information technology projects initiated by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies were cancelled prior to completion in the last 12 months; and what the cost of each such project was to the public purse. [320428]
Bill Rammell: The Ministry of Defence and its Agencies (excluding trading funds) did not cancel any of its information technology projects, prior to completion, during Financial Year 2008-09. This excludes low value projects funded locally by individual units across the Department. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Interpreters
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) Pashto and (b) Dari interpreters are employed by his Department. [321153]
Bill Rammell: No professional Pashto or Dari interpreters are currently employed by the Department. However, military personnel who have been trained to higher levels of proficiency in Pashto and Dari are available. Although not at the level of a professional interpreter, they are able to provide trusted translation and some consecutive interpreting capability.
When professional interpreting services are required, external provision is sought by the customer area from commercial agencies.
Joint Strike Fighter
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the future procurement of the Joint Strike Fighter. [321337]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The Government remain committed to the Joint Strike Fighter as stated by the then Secretary of State on 18 March 2009, Offi cial Report, column 54WS, on the approval to purchase three Joint Strike Fighters to allow the UK to participate in Operational Test and Evaluation in the US. The Joint Strike Fighter remains the optimum solution to the UK's Joint Combat Aircraft requirement as part of our Carrier Strike programme. We have not made further investment decisions at this stage and cannot, therefore, announce overall numbers, variants or the in-service date.
Land Mines: Detectors
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department's policy is on the provision of pre-deployment mine detection training. [321367]
Bill Rammell: Personnel are trained in Counter-Improvised Explosive Device Tactics, Techniques and Procedures and how to use the Vallon Hand Held Metal Detector during pre-deployment training, if their operational role in theatre requires it. Additional training is provided on arrival in theatre to ensure that personnel are given the latest tactics, techniques and procedures. All pre-deployment training is reviewed constantly in the light of operational experience.
Military Aircraft: Deployment
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the maximum flight endurance time without mid air refuelling is for a (a) Typhoon eurofighter, (b) Harrier GR9, (c) Tornado GR4 and (d) Super Tucano; and what the average fuel consumption level is for each aircraft. [319849]
Bill Rammell: Flight endurance and fuel consumption depend on a number of factors including payload, operating altitude, weather conditions (including ambient temperature) and speed. To achieve maximum endurance, the aircraft types requested would have to be flown with no operational weapons and would be fitted with the maximum number of additional external fuel tanks instead. Combat aircraft do not fly in this configuration when conducting operations, as this would negate their combat capability.
For academic purposes given the same atmospheric conditions, a single-engine turboprop aircraft such as the Super Tucano flying in this configuration would have greater endurance and lower fuel consumption rate than fast jet types but would have less endurance than turboprop unmanned aerial vehicles like Reaper.
Fast jet aircraft have significant advantages in terms of faster transit times, higher operating altitudes and greater weapons, avionics and defensive aids payloads. This provides greater operational flexibility and agility. Furthermore, unrefuelled flight endurance is a relatively minor factor for fast jets, as the Tornado, Harrier and Typhoon would benefit from air-to-air refuelling.
Military Aircraft: Helicopters
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) required and (b) actual number of pilots was for (i) Apache, (ii) Chinook and (iii) Merlin helicopters on the latest date for which figures are available. [320005]
Bill Rammell: The information requested is shown in the following table:
| Aircraft type | Required strength | Actual strength |
All our operational commitments for these helicopters are being met.
Required and actual strengths will both naturally vary with time due to many factors including: operational requirements, the introduction of newly trained crew on completion of training courses at set times during the year, the number of trained personnel assigned to non-flying duties (as part of the necessary broader career development), injuries, and service leavers.
In addition, the RAF is going through a high level of change with aircraft drawing down, going through structure change, forming new squadrons or bringing new aircraft into service. Therefore, crew figures are fluctuating continually.
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