Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in NATO on upgrading AFV Fleets.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Ministry of Defence Ministers routinely discuss the full range of defence and security issues with our NATO partners and interoperability is used within the decision-making criteria for upgrade programmes of our AFVs. NATO is the cornerstone of UK defence and as such the UK remains fully committed to the alliance.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Government's objectives are in participating in the NATO Allied Command Transformation programme.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Allied Command Transformation (ACT) is one of NATO's two Strategic Commands and prepares the Alliance for new security challenges.
The UK objective for supporting ACT and its programmes is part of our overall commitment to NATO as the Alliances leading European ally. ACT has an important role in modernising the Alliance to meet current and future defence and security threats. The UK fully supports these modernisation initiatives.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British Army officers at the rank of colonel and above are currently attached to NATO Transformation Command; what ranks they are; and what roles they are performing at NATO Transformation Command.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The number of British Army officers at the rank of Colonel (NATO Rank OF-5) and above, currently in posts in NATO’s Allied Command Transformation (ACT) is four.
The location and posts occupied are:
Location | Post | Rank |
ACT-HQ SACT - Virginia | Branch Head (Medical) | Colonel (OF-5) |
ACT-HQ SACT - Virginia | Section Head (Intel and Environmental Disciplines) | Colonel (OF-5) |
ACT-HQ SACT-Staff Element Europe - Mons | Branch Head (Capability Targets & Review) | Colonel (OF-5) |
ACT-Joint Warfare Centre - Stavanger | Division Head (Joint Training) | Colonel (OF-5) |
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) facilities, (b) military manpower and (c)civilian manpower are based at (i) the British Defence Singapore Support Unit and (ii) the Joint Logistics Support Base, Duqm, Oman.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The information requested is provided below.
British Defence Singapore Support Unit:
The Joint Logistics Support Base (JLSB), Duqm, Oman:
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the planned date for the Trafalgar-Class SSN to leave service.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The planned out-of-service and in-service dates for Royal Navy submarines are withheld as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the global network of operational and logistic support bases for the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army and (c) Royal Air Force for the purpose of delivering international security.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
In answering this question, we have defined 'the global network of operational and logistic support bases' to mean any overseas Ministry of Defence owned or leased bases.
Due to the Joint nature of military operations it is difficult to allocate these bases to a single Service in any meaningful way. The list is as follows:
British Forces Germany
British Forces Cyprus
British Forces Gibraltar
British Forces South Atlantic Islands
- Falkland Islands
- Ascension Island
British Indian Ocean Territory
British Defence Singapore Support Unit, Singapore
Joint Logistics Support Base, Duqm, Oman.
Naval Support Facility, Bahrain
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to be able to deploy a fully manned Carrier Strike Group to the Far East.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
HMS Queen Elizabeth's first operational deployment will be in 2021.
As announced by the Secretary of State, the deployment will include the Pacific region although exact locations and dates for this deployment are yet to be confirmed.
The precise number and mix of vessels, and therefore the number of personnel, would depend on the operational circumstances at the time.
The Carrier Strike capability will continue to be developed with a planned transition to a full operating capability by the end of 2023.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what forward basing arrangements his Department is establishing in the Far East.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 January 2019 to Question 208862 to the hon. Member for Ceredigion (Ben Lake).
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the effect on the manning of Type 45s was of the crewing up of HMS Queen Elizabeth.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Providing the Ship's Company of HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH had no effect on the personnel provided to the Type 45 destroyers.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of GDP is accounted for by (a) UK and (b) overseas defence sales.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Defence plays a significant role in providing a secure and stable environment, which is the foundation of the UK's economic growth. This was recognised by the right hon. Member for Ludlow' s independent report 'Growing the Contribution of Defence to UK Prosperity'.
National economic data is not sufficiently detailed to identify the amount of GDP that is supported by defence sales as defence-related activities are captured in other data categories, such as different types of manufacturing activity, and some goods used by Defence are also used for civilian purposes. In 2017-18 Ministry of Defence's expenditure with UK industry and commerce was just under £19 billion; and in 2017 the UK won defence exports orders worth £9 billion. Over a rolling ten-year period the UK remains the world second largest global defence exporter.