HC Deb 29 October 1970 vol 805 cc395-7
12. Mr. Wall

asked the Minister of State for Defence if he will now make a statement about the future of the aircraft carriers and fixed-wing flying in the Royal Navy.

34. Mr. Wilkinson

asked the Minister of State for Defence what plans he has for the future development of British fixed-wing carrier-based airpower.

Mr. Kirk

I would refer my hon. Friends to the Supplementary Statement on Defence Policy 1970, Cmnd. 4521, published yesterday and to the statement which my noble Friend subsequently made in the House.—[Vol. 805, c. 223–39.]

Mr. Wall

As the "Ark Royal" is being retained to cover the gap till short or vertical take-off aircraft can be deployed with the Fleet, and as these aircraft will then be an integral part of the Fleet, will my hon. Friend confirm that they will be operated and flown by the Royal Navy?

Mr. Kirk

This is a matter which we still have under review.

Mr. Wilkinson

Will my hon. Friend take into account that, for the first time, we now have a range of truly inter-operable aircraft and that it would be a pity not to utilise this potential to the full? Reverting to the statement by his noble Friend about the establishment of an operational conversion unit for the Jaguar, may I ask my hon. Friend whether the Jaguar might not be a suitable aircraft for maritime operation?

Mr. Kirk

That is another question.

Mr. George Thomson

How long will it be before the "Ark Royal" has to go out of service for another refit?

Mr. Kirk

Speaking from memory, I think that it is about four years.

26. Mr. Wingfield Digby

asked the Minister of State for Defence which aircraft carriers are suitable for modernisation for use in the mid-1970s.

Mr. Kirk

H.M.S. "Eagle" could be modernised to operate Phantom aircraft by the middle 1970s, though not H.M.S. "Hermes". However, the period of service remaining before the new naval weapons are planned to enter service would not make this worthwhile, even if manpower were available for her. H.M.S. "Ark Royal", which the Government now intends to retain in service as an aircraft carrier until the late 1970s, has recently completed a major refit.

Mr. Wingfield Digby

Will it be necessary to give the "Ark Royal" another major refit, after the phasing out of "Eagle" in 1972?

Mr. Kirk

The "Ark Royal" will need another long refit before 1978.

Mr. John Morris

When will the "Ark Royal" get her next refit—the short one? What do the Government intend to do while she is having it?

Mr. Kirk

I answered the right hon. Member for Dundee, East (Mr. George Thomson) on that point a little while ago.

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