Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate his Department has made of the initial operating capability date for the E-7 Wedgetail.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The E-7 Wedgetail is expected to enter service with the RAF in 2025. The finalised date for In-Service, Initial Operating Capability and Full Operating Capability remains subject to approval in the Full Business Case which was submitted as planned in March 2024.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Type 45 destroyers are (a) operationally available, (b) in refit and (c) undergoing the power improvement project upgrade programme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
HMS Diamond, HMS Duncan and HMS Dauntless are all currently available for operations. HMS Daring, HMS Dragon, and HMS Defender are all currently at various stages of the Power and Propulsion Programme.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate his Department has made of the initial operating capability date for the Boxer-related 155mm artillery system in the Army.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Army aims to achieve a Mobile Fires Platform Minimum Deployable Capability within this decade and continues to examine options to accelerate the procurement process and delivery.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Typhoon aircraft are based in the Falkland Islands; and what tranche of Typhoon aircraft these are.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
There are four RAF Typhoon aircraft permanently stationed in the Falkland Islands. The details on Tranche are held at a higher classification.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate his Department has made of the initial operating capability date for the Archer 155mm artillery system.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The current approved Initial Operating Capability for Archer 6x6 is 31 October 2024.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated initial operating capability date is for the Boxer vehicle in Army service.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 15 January 2024 to Question 7786 to the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (Mr Healey). This referred back to the answer given on 17 October 2022, to Question 59082.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-01-05/7786
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has for stored Challenger 2 tanks that are not being upgraded to Challenger 3 standard.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the right hon. Member to the answer the former Minister for Armed Forces (James Heappey) gave on 1 February 2024 to Question 11234 to the right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell).
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-01-24/11234
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Challenger 2 tanks his Department owned on 31 March 2023; and where those tanks were located.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As at 31 March 2023, the British Army had 213 in-service Challenger 2 platforms. We do not routinely comment on the locations of these platforms in the interests of security and operational effectiveness.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many multiple launch rocket systems his Department owns; how many he plans to upgrade; and what the projected (a) cost of and (b) timescale for such upgrades is.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has an operational fleet of 26 multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), comprising launcher and repair and recovery variants, and owns a further 50 MLRS, all of which will be upgraded.
To date, approval has been granted to upgrade 69 systems at an estimated capital cost of £481 million (using current exchange rate assumptions). Funding of £158 million has been allocated for the upgrade of a further 16 systems, which includes the purchase of surplus systems sourced from other nations. This will lead to a total operational fleet size of 85 systems.
The MLRS fleet is being upgraded in four tranches with the final deliveries estimated to be complete by 2030.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the proportion of work on the new CH-47ER helicopters that will take place in the UK.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK value for the Foreign Military Sale of tranche 1 of the Chinook Capability Sustainment Programme, which includes support until 2029, is estimated at 8%, with approximately £151 million to be invested in UK industry.