§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 3 July 1998,Official Report, column 310, what options his Department has to extend the contract for the Grob 115D aircraft at the end of the contract period. [50432]
§ Mr. Doug HendersonNegotiations continue with the preferred bidder for the Royal Air Forces Light Aircraft Flying Task. The intention is to recompete the1110W requirement at the end of the ten-year contract and there are consequently no plans to include options for extending the contract.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 3 July 1998,Official Report, column 310, what assessment he has made of the effective working life of the Grob 115D aircraft. [50433]
§ Mr. Doug HendersonThe Grob 115D is certified for 15,000 flying hours for the type of flying operations the RAF plans to undertake, subject to normal maintenance inspections. Based on these criteria, and assuming a constant usage rate, the RAF assesses the working life of the aircraft to be around 30 years.