HL Deb 16 September 2004 vol 664 cc202-3WA
Lord Astor of Hever

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What contractual arrangements they have made for the ongoing support and maintenance of the first tranche of the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft; and whether there are additional or separate arrangements for further support and maintenance as necessary; and [HL4097]

What contractual arrangements they have made for the ongoing support and maintenance of the second tranche of the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft; and whether there are additional or separate arrangements for further support and maintenance as necessary; and [HL4098]

What contractual arrangements they propose to make for the ongoing support and maintenance of the third tranche of the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft; and whether they plan to make additional or separate arrangements for the provision of such further support and maintenance as necessary. [HL4099]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)

An international contractual framework has been established between the four Typhoon partner nations and the industrial consortia responsible for building the Typhoon aircraft. This takes the form of a "Framing Agreement" that specifies the principles for the support and maintenance arrangements, allowing contracts for Typhoon Tranche 1 support to be placed on the nations' behalf by NETMA, the NATO Agency responsible for managing the Typhoon project. Contracts are, however, placed nationally for engine repair services for which the partner nations have different support policies. No specific contractual arrangements have yet been made for the support and maintenance of Typhoon tranches 2 or 3 beyond those also required for tranche 1.

Lord Astor of Hever

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What information they have on the support and maintenance arrangements for Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft purchased outside of the United Kingdom. [HL4100]

Lord Bach

In common with the United Kingdom, the other NETMA partner nations plan to maintain their Eurofighter fleets through a mixture of in-house support and nationally and collaboratively procured contractor services. Third-party nations purchasing Eurofighter will make their own arrangements supported as necessary by partner nations, NETMA and Industry.