§ Patrick MercerTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on deployment of Royal Navy minehunters for an exercise with the Royal Saudi Navy. [85456]
§ Mr. IngramThe Royal Navy deploys a Mine Countermeasure (MCM) Group annually, either to the Mediterranean or the Gulf, to maintain operational capability, support major exercises and practice out of area deployments.
The MCM Group is currently undertaking a routine deployment to the Gulf in order to conduct bilateral exercises with Saudi Arabian forces, as well as those of other Gulf States and coalition partners in the region. The aim is to build on the successful bilateral training conducted in the region in the wake of Exercise Saif Sareea held in Oman towards the end of last year, after which several invitations from Gulf States were received to conduct similar exercises in 2002. It is also planned to undertake a programme of port visits in the region to support Defence Diplomacy initiatives before the vessels are scheduled to return to the United Kingdom in spring 2003.