§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of a hybrid solution allowing both vertical and conventional landing aircraft to operate simultaneously in deciding on a platform for the future aircraft carrier. [87688]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 17 December 2002]: Such a solution was considered before we announced our decision, on 30 September last year, to proceed with the Adaptable carrier design. There are concerns about the viability and safety of a design configured to operate STOVL and CV aircraft simultaneously. Indications are that such a design would not be able to meet our sortie generation and simultaneous launch and recovery requirements without a significant increase in ship size. This would impact on construction and through life operations, as well as affordability.