Parliamentary Answers – December 9 2010

A regular round up of defence related Parliamentary questions and answers

Question

Menzies Campbell (North East Fife, Liberal Democrat)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions Royal Air Force fighters were scrambled from (a) RAF Leuchars and (b) RAF Coningsby to intercept aircraft in each of the last five years.

Answer

Nick Harvey (Minister of State (Armed Forces), Defence; North Devon, Liberal Democrat)

The number of days on which Royal Air Force Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) aircraft have been launched in each of the last five years is contained in the following table:

Number of days QRA launched
	Number
2006	(1)2
2007	19
2008	15
2009	14
2010	(2)13
(1) Records held from September 2006. (2) To date.

QRA aircraft are held at ground readiness at RAF Coningsby and RAF Leuchars. I am withholding the information as to which base QRA aircraft were launched from for each incident as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

 

Question

Jim Murphy (East Renfrewshire, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the strategic defence and security review, page 24, what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of introducing a new range of medium weight armoured vehicles, including Terrier engineer vehicles and the Scout reconnaissance vehicles.

Answer

Peter Luff (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Equipment, Support and Technology), Defence; Mid Worcestershire, Conservative)

The Ministry of Defence currently has three medium weight armoured vehicle procurement programmes under way: the Terrier engineer vehicle, the Utility Vehicle (UV), and the Specialist Vehicle (SV), of which the Scout reconnaissance vehicle is a variant.

The total estimated cost or in-service dates of the UV and SV programmes cannot be confirmed until their respective Main Investment Decisions are made. The Terrier engineer vehicle programme has passed Main Investment Decision and is currently in the Demonstration and Manufacture Phase. The programme will cost approximately £386 million.

 

Question

Julian Lewis (New Forest East, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average response time was for (a) Harriers and (b) Tornados when deployed in Afghanistan following a call for close air support from air troops in action in each of the last two years.

Answer

Nick Harvey (Minister of State (Armed Forces), Defence; North Devon, Liberal Democrat)

holding answer 16 November 2010

I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces. However, I can confirm that there are no significant differences between the response times of these aircraft.

 

Question

Philip Davies (Shipley, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the required complement of infantry battalions is represented by their present strength.

Answer

Andrew Robathan (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans), Defence; South Leicestershire, Conservative)

The question has been interpreted to refer to the required number (“establishment”) and the actual number (“strength”) of personnel in the Infantry battalions. The figures provided are peacetime establishment numbers but it should be noted that a battalion deploying on operations will be augmented by further Infantry and specialist personnel, as required, to ensure that it has the strength required for its operational role. Such adjustments are not included in the table because of their temporary nature.

The strength figures given are for Infantry-trained officers and soldiers serving at regimental duty. They do not include Infantry-trained personnel in other posts-for instance, those serving in higher headquarters, in Ministry of Defence Centre, in Defence Equipment and Support, or in other non-Regimental posts. The strength numbers will fluctuate up and down on a daily basis as, for example, personnel move from training into the battalions or as personnel complete their service and leave.

The figures shown in the following tables contain similar variations to previous answers provided on this subject, and do not display any new or unexpected trends; the figures requested for the Infantry battalions are correct as of 1 October 2010:

Division	Unit	Establishment	Actual strength
Guards	1 Grenadier Guards	575	627
	1 Coldstream Guards	569	529
	1 Scots Guards	639	568
	1 Irish Guards	576	602
	1 Welsh Guards	568	548
Scots	1 Scots	573	523
	2 Scots	566	516
	3 Scots	575	483
	4 Scots(1)	640	478
	5 Scots	591	556
Queens	1 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment	636	645
	2 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment	566	596
	1 Royal Regt Fusiliers	609	614
	2 Royal Regt Fusiliers	569	528
	1 Royal Anglian	609	622
	2 Royal Anglian	571	578
Kings	1 Lancs	609	603
	2 Lancs	555	606
	1 Yorks	571	532
	2 Yorks	566	492
	3 Yorks	637	547
Prince of Wales	1 Mercian	571	504
	2 Mercian	566	509
	3 Mercian	637	598
	1 Royal Welsh	565	520
	2 Royal Welsh	637	592
Rifles	1 Rifles	565	601
	2 Rifles	566	561
	3 Rifles	565	595
	4 Rifles	610	627
	5 Rifles	636	652
Royal Irish	1 Royal Irish	588	589
Para	2 Para	587	598
	3 Para	587	590
(1) 4 Scots has been re-roled from Armoured Infantry Battalion to Light Role Infantry Battalion, requiring 72 fewer posts. Establishment liability is yet to be amended.

In addition to the battalions shown, there are three incremental Guards companies whose primary role is public duties but which can also be used to augment the other Guards battalions as required:

Unit	Peacetime Establishment	Actual Strength
Nijmegen Coy Grenadier Gds	106	106
7 Coy Coldstream Gds	106	99
F Coy Scots Guards	106	106

It is not our policy to release corresponding data for 1^(st) Battalion the Parachute Regiment.

 

Question

Menzies Campbell (North East Fife, Liberal Democrat)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his most recent estimate is of the date on which the RAF Typhoon will take over responsibility for Quick Reaction Alert from the RAF Tornado.

Answer

Nick Harvey (Minister of State (Armed Forces), Defence; North Devon, Liberal Democrat)

Typhoon already undertakes Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duties at RAF Coningsby and in the Falkland Islands. On current plans Typhoon will begin to take up QRA duties at RAF Leuchars, in conjunction with Tornado F3, during December 2010 and will take over complete responsibility in April 2011 when Tornado F3 retires from service.

 

Question

Andrea Leadsom (South Northamptonshire, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what types of boots are supplied to Army personnel; where each such type is manufactured; and what the (a) unit cost and (b) life expectancy is of each type of boot.

Answer

Andrew Robathan (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans), Defence; South Leicestershire, Conservative)

holding answer 3 December 2010

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) currently has three contracts supplying 32 types of boot to armed forces personnel, most of which are used by the Army; two contracts are with UK companies, and the other is with a Spanish company.

The life expectancy of boots depends upon the purpose and the environment in which the boot is being used. In normal use, most boots have an expected life of around three years but combat boots in theatre have a life of about six months.

In accordance with European Union public procurement directives, it is at the discretion of the companies to choose where the manufacturing work is carried out, and the MOD does not routinely collect these data.

I am withholding the information on the unit price of the boots as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.

 

Question

Karen Lumley (Redditch, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) BAe 146 and (b) BAe 125 aircraft were sold by his Department in each year since 2003; and how much revenue was raised from each sale.

Answer

Andrew Robathan (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans), Defence; South Leicestershire, Conservative)

No BAe 146 aircraft have been sold by the Ministry of Defence since 2003. Five BAe 125 aircraft were sold in 2007 for a total of just under £30,000.