Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what risk rating was placed on a collision involving a Tornado and another aircraft in (a) 1991, (b) 1998 and (c) 2010.

The risk rating placed on a collision involving a Tornado for the years 1991 and 1998 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. For 2010 the risk placed on a collision involving a Tornado classifies the severity of Mid Air Collision as ‘Catastrophic', and the likelihood as ‘Remote'. Nevertheless, we have initiated a programme to fit Tornado aircraft with a collision warning system, which is currently being trialed on two aircraft and a third has been fitted for further development. On current planning, we intend to introduce this capability in stages from later this year.