Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 27079, on Victory 1744, how many such meetings, on which dates, have been held between his officials and those in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Since my previous answer of the 22 February 2016 officials met on the 11 March and further meetings between officials from both Departments will be held as these discussions continue.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to inform the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham of progress made on matters relating to the future of the Victory 1744 discussed in that hon. Member's meeting with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence in September 2015.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Discussions between officials in the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Media, Culture and Sport will continue and an announcement with regard to the future of Victory 1744 will be made once these deliberations are complete.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what contingency arrangements his Department has made for the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the upcoming EU referendum.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 14 January 2016 to Question 21931.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2015 to Question 8118, what the Atlantic coverage is of the Sentry airbourne warning MK1 aircraft.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The E-3D Sentry has a range of some 5,000 nautical miles with a mission endurance of some 11 hours. Both can be extended by air-to-air refuelling.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2015 to Question 8120, what the sensor capability is of the C-130 Hercules; and what the full extent is of its search and rescue resources.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Hercules C-130 aircraft is fitted with radar which can be used to locate vessels in the water. Night vision goggles allow aircrew to conduct visual searches at night. The aircraft is able to provide situational awareness of shipping in the area by interrogating maritime transponder transmissions.
The Hercules C-130 is also able to drop air sea rescue apparatus containing life-rafts and survival equipment.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2015 to Question 8120, what the range is of the RAF Sea King helicopter resource in its coverage of Atlantic waters.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The operational range of RAF Sea King helicopters is some 210-240 nautical miles.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what airborne early warning aircraft capability he plans will be available to the new aircraft carriers joining the UK fleet.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Queen Elizabeth Class carriers will have an airborne early warning capability provided by the CROWSNEST radar system fitted to the Merlin Mk2 helicopter. Additionally, the carriers will be capable of operating with other UK, NATO and Allied aircraft which can also provide airborne early warning capabilities.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what search and rescue capability exists within the RAF covering missing aircraft in the North Atlantic.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The United Kingdom military aircraft search and rescue (SAR) capability currently consists of Royal Navy and Royal Air Force Sea King helicopters, which can assist in the search for missing aircraft in the North Sea.
In addition, the RAF Sentry airborne early warning aircraft can carry out maritime surveillance and also act as the airborne command and control node for any coordinated SAR operation.
The RAF Air Transport fleet can also be called upon; in particular the national standby C-130 (Hercules), which can be fitted with air sea rescue equipment and can be used to provide SAR cover.