Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Israeli armed forces personnel are in the UK.
Answered by James Heappey
Israel is represented by Armed Forces personnel in its Embassy in the UK, and as participants in UK defence-led training courses.
There are currently six Israeli Armed Forces officers posted in the UK.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) jobs and (b) technical apprenticeships (i) have been created and (ii) he estimates will be created over the next 10 years from the Type 31 frigate programme in each shipyard in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The construction of the Royal Navy’s Type 31 fleet will support around 1,250 highly-skilled jobs at Babcock’s shipyard in Rosyth and see the creation of an additional 150 apprenticeships. The programme will also support a further 1,250 roles across the UK supply chain.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where each offshore patrol vessel (a) is deployed and (b) was manufactured; what the purchase cost was of each vessel; and what the annual (i) running and (ii) maintenance costs are of the Overseas Patrol Squadron.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
In answer to the hon. Member's questions I can provide the following information:
a) The offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) are currently deployed as follows:
b) HMS Mersey, HMS Severn and HMS Tyne are Batch 1 vessels, built by Vosper Thorneycroft at Southampton.
HMS Forth, HMS Medway, HMS Trent, HMS Tamar and HMS Spey are Batch 2 vessels, built at BAE Systems’ shipyards on the Clyde.
c) It is not possible to give a purchase cost for individual vessels, however the Contract value for the two Batches were:
i) The annual running costs for all OPVs for Financial Year (FY) 2022-23 was £54.122 million.
ii) The maintenance costs for all OPVs for FY 2022-23 was £51.250 million.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Israeli Air Force operated planes have (a) landed and (b) taken off from British territory since 7 October 2023.
Answered by James Heappey
Nine Israeli Air Force operated planes have taken off and landed from British territory since 7 October. These figures are based on official requests for diplomatic flight clearance that have been submitted by the Israeli Embassy in London, subsequently cleared by Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the US Air Force has used any Royal Air Force bases in the UK to transfer weapons to Israel since 7 October 2023.
Answered by James Heappey
The Ministry of Defence does not comment on Allies' operations.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many surveillance flights has the Royal Air Force flown over Gaza since 7 October 2023.
Answered by James Heappey
The UK has deployed surveillance assets to improve our situational awareness in the region and provide assurance to our partners. For operational security reasons, I cannot comment on the specifics of this activity.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Air Force operated planes have flown to Israel since 7 October 2023.
Answered by James Heappey
As of 2 February 2024, a total of 48 RAF operated aircraft have flown to Israel since 7 October 2023. These flights included aircraft used to transport Ministers and senior officials conducting diplomatic engagements with Israel.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether intelligence on military operations has been shared with Israel during the conflict in Gaza.
Answered by James Heappey
Yes, I refer you to my written ministerial statement to Parliament on 5 December 2023, on the sharing of intelligence from UK Military Operations.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his oral contribution of 24 January 2024, Official Report, column 352, on what evidential basis he authorised air strikes on the Miraj surface-to-air missile launchers near Sanaa airfield; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of those strikes on shipping in the Red Sea.
Answered by James Heappey
Every mission carried out by RAF aircraft is analysed carefully and informed by robust intelligence.
The eight targets comprised Miraj surface to air missile launchers, which posed a threat to the success of the coalition operation against the military facilities involved in the Houthi anti-shipping campaign.
Our analysis suggests that all of the targets were successfully engaged.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential risk of Houthis (a) shooting down RAF Typhoons and (b) capturing British pilots.
Answered by James Heappey
The safety of our personnel on operations is paramount. To maintain the security and safety of deployed personnel it is longstanding Government policy that we do not comment on operational Threat Assessments or Joint Personnel Recovery requirements or plans.