Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress he has made on the Scout specialist vehicle programme; and if he will make a statement.

The Scout Specialist Vehicle (SV) programme passed its second Main Gate approval in August 2014, resulting in a contract signature and announcement with General Dynamics UK in September 2014 for 589 vehicles, plus training systems, applique armour and the first two years initial in-service support. The programme continues to progress in the demonstration and manufacture phase.

The Scout SV fleet has a planned initial operating capability of July 2020 following delivery of the first vehicles to the Army in 2017 and once training and unit conversion is complete. The first brigade will be fully equipped with Scout SV from the end of 2020. The full operating capability is expected in 2025 when three brigades are planned to be equipped with the vehicles.