Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2021 to Question 10187, on Chinook Helicopters: Procurement, how many jobs are expected to be supported in the wider UK supply chain for manufacture and long-term support.

The current number of UK industry jobs supporting the Chinook helicopter fleet is estimated to exceed 450 across the UK defence supply chain. This includes around 100 jobs under the contract with BDUK to install state-of-the-art Infra-Red Suppression Systems across some of the Chinook fleet.

The UK and US Governments reached agreement in March 2021 to procure a future Chinook Capability as part of the Chinook Capability Sustainment Programme. This long-term investment is highly likely to provide sustainment of UK supply chain jobs and opportunities in the support of the Chinook Platform.