Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the out of service date of HMS Protector.

For operational security reasons, the Ministry of Defence provides the service dates for classes of ships rather than for individual platforms. As HMS Protector is the only one of her class, I can explain that she is due to leave service in the late 2030s on current plans.

The Defence Investment Plan announced plans to replace HMS Protector with a more modern variant to maintain this essential presence and support Government activities around the British Antarctic Territory. Decisions on the method of procurement and the exact replacement timeline will be taken in due course.