Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason Puma has been allocated as a saving for the Department when its service life has been extended.

The Integrated Review provided the means to modernise Defence within an affordable multi-year programme. Part of this modernisation included the commitment to invest in a new medium support helicopter, requiring the phased reduction in Puma capability and allowing the expertise from within the Puma Force to develop a foundation for the new helicopter. During the drawdown period we are looking into retaining a portion of the Puma fleet to temporarily replace existing platforms currently meeting Rotary Wing tasks in Cyprus and Brunei as these meet the end of their contractual periods.