Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of UK jobs created by the £64 million contract awarded to BDUK to improve the defence systems of the UK's Chinook fleet.

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.