§ Lord Vivianasked Her Majesty's Government:
What were the reasons for 64 Challenger 2 main battle tanks not being fully operational at 31 March. [HL4931]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)The reasons for 64 Challenger 2 main battle tanks not being fully operational as at 31 March are given below:
13 main battle tanks were awaiting spare parts for repair at unit level. These demands were being processed using normal procedures.
11 tanks were awaiting labour and would be worked on when skilled manpower could be made available.
Two main battle tanks were awaiting facilities, one for workshop space to carry out a turret lift and the other awaiting a crane to carry out a power pack lift at unit level to continue investigating a fault.
38 main battle tanks in 1 (UK) Armoured Division were awaiting repair at Royal Electrical Mechanical and Engineering Battalions. Eleven of them require auxiliary power units, six require power pack replacements from Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (REME) battalions, four require repair to power packs at REME battalions, two require digital automotive services control units, 12 require turret electronic gun control equipment line replaceable units and three require thermal imaging component repair.
It should be noted that the data requested is taken from the Land Equipment Availability Register which reports quarterly and, as equipment availability changes on a daily basis, only represents a "snapshot" of availability.