Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department expects to take delivery of new Chinook H-47 extended range aircraft.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The programme will deliver a total of 14 Extended Range Chinook Helicopters to the Department with delivery from 2027.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2024 to Question 16073 on HMS Prince of Wales: Salvage, whether artefacts salvaged illegally from HMS Prince of Wales and seized in Malaysia have been (a) seen and (b) inventoried by UK officials.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Investigations into the illegal salvage of HMS Prince of Wales by the Malaysian authorities are still ongoing, therefore, it would be inappropriate to comment further until they have been concluded.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether artefacts salvaged illegally from HMS Prince of Wales and seized in Malaysia are to be accessioned by the National Museum of the Royal Navy.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Investigations into the illegal salvage of HMS Prince of Wales by the Malaysian authorities are still ongoing, we are unable to confirm the future preservation of the artefacts until investigations have concluded.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans the upgrade to Type 45's Sea Viper Air Defence system to deliver Ballistic Missile Defence Capability will achieve initial operating capability.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Sea Viper Evolution is the first stage of UK Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) with enhancements to the Type 45 Destroyer's Multi-Function Radar, Combat Management System (CMS), Weapon Command and Control (C2), and the ASTER 30 Block 1 missile. Initial Operating Capability (IOC) is scheduled for February 2028, and the UK is currently in an Assessment Phase for future capability upgrades.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was for upgrading the Royal Marines' offshore raiding craft to commando raiding craft specification in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
A total cost of £11.35 million provides the full capability requirement and extends the through-life management until 2030.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on the Multi Role Support Ship programme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to questions 11950 and 11951 on 7 February 2024.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding has been (a) allocated and (b) spent on the Global Combat Air Programme Tempest programme as of 6 February 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The March 2021 Defence Command Paper reaffirmed that that we will invest more than £2 billion in the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) out to 2025, and we have spent over £1.8 billion so far. This is part of a budget of over £12 billion over the next 10 years. The amount that we ultimately invest will be determined at future decision points.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Defence has invested over £1.1 billion in R&D through the Future Combat Air System Technology Initiative (FCAS TI), with a further £600 million from our Team Tempest industry partners to date.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the planned delivery dates are for (a) HMS Sheffield, (b) HMS Newcastle, (c) HMS Edinburgh and (d) HMS London.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Initial Operating Capability for the Type 26 Class is forecast to be October 2028. All ships are expected to enter service between 2028 and 2035.
To avoid compromising operational security, the Ministry of Defence does not routinely disclose individual out of service dates or specific delivery or in-service dates for warships to avoid revealing elements of the Fleet's long-term schedule. However, the Royal Navy continues to ensure that it has sufficient assets available to deliver operational outputs.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the subcontractors involved in fabrication work on the Type 26 programme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given to question 12598 on the 6 February 2024.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2024 to Question 9179 on HMS Prince of Wales, whether the Government of Malaysia has asked for technical support in the assessment and identification of potential human remains recovered from the wreck of HMS Prince of Wales through unauthorised salvage operations.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Investigations into the illegal salvage of HMS Prince of Wales are still ongoing, it would not be appropriate to provide a response regarding human remains and the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre's involvement until these have concluded.