Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Warrior armoured fighting vehicles his Department plans to keep in operational service in 2026.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
An appropriate number of Warrior armoured fighting vehicles will remain in service until new concepts and capabilities are introduced into service throughout the decade, ensuring operational requirements continue to be met.
I am withholding further information on the number of Warrior which will be available for operational deployment as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness, or security of the Armed Forces.
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 additional cost of continuing the Warrior armoured fighting vehicle in service.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 14 July 2023 to Question 194148.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to resurrect the Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Department has no plans to resurrect the cancelled Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list all contracts by value between his Department and (a) Babcock and (b) its subsidiaries in the last ten years.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The information needed to answer the right hon. Member's question is being reviewed for operational and commercial sensitivities, which will take time to complete. As such, I will write to him with an answer, and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
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 he has made of the number of Morpheus terminals that will be required when it enters service.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 27 April 2023 to Question 182237 to the right hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Kevan Jones).
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost was of each of the five boats of the Astute class delivered to his Department; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each of the remaining Astute class boats .
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It is not possible to identify a single unit cost for the first three Astute Class submarines (HMS ASTUTE, HMS AMBUSH, and HMS ARTFUL) as they were contracted as a batch.
As previously announced, contract awards for Boats four to seven are as follows:
Boat Name | Contract Value (£billion) |
HMS AUDACIOUS | 1.2 |
HMS ANSON | 1.3 |
Agamemnon | 1.4 |
Agincourt | 1.5 |
The current value of the Astute programme is £11.4 billion.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to commence the competition for the Morpheus tactical communications system.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer my right Hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 27 April 2023 to Question 182237 to the right Hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Kevan Jones).
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 he has made of the cost of upgrading the Bowman tactical communications system from BCP 5.6 standard to BCP 5.7; when the upgraded system is expected to achieve initial operating capability; and which contractor has been appointed to undertake the work.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I will write to the right hon. Member with the detail requested and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
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 he has made of when the last of the two submarines of the Astute class will enter operational service.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Planned in-service and out-of-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.
We remain committed to delivering all seven Astute Class submarines.
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 cost of the Challenger 3 upgrade programme; what the definition is of initial operating capability for Challenger 3; and what the planned date is for that initial operating capability.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We do not routinely release forecast figures regarding the resource and capital expenditure of our major projects. Portfolio data is published annually in support of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) Annual Report which includes a budget baseline and the latest HM Treasury approved estimates in respect of whole life costs. The current report is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications//infrastructure-and-projects-authority-annual-report-2022-23
Initial Operating Capability is defined as a single squadron of Main Battle Tanks with trained crews and is planned to be achieved in 2027.