Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Astor of Hever on 6 November 2013 (HL 2992–5), whether programme funding has been agreed for ship-optimisation of the Merlin Mk3 helicopter.
The Merlin Life Sustainment Programme was approved and contracted in December 2013 with funding to update 25 Merlin MK3/3a helicopters with new avionic systems to overcome obsolescence issues as well as ship optimisation enhancements including the addition of a folding main rotor head and folding tail. The upgrade project will enable embarked operations from Royal Navy ships.