§ Mr. TrotterTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 30 November,Official Report, column 61, which aircraft carrier will receive the Merlin EH101 helicopter first and when; which helicopters will be deployed on the aircraft carrier not due to receive the Merlin EH 101 helicopter from the batch ordered last year; and what assessment he has made of the operational consequences.
§ Mr. AitkenPlans are not yet finalised as to which aircraft carrier will be the first to receive the Merlin EH101 helicopter. Sea King helicopters will continue to be deployed on aircraft carriers until they are replaced by the Merlins. The operational consequences of the sequential introduction of the Merlin EH101 were taken into account in deciding how to introduce Merlin into Royal Navy service.