HL Deb 17 May 2004 vol 661 cc54-5WA
Lord Elton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Answer by the Lord Bach on 6 April (HL Deb, col. 1722) that "the GR7/9 Harrier that will be on the aircraft carriers will be sufficient, as far as air cover is concerned, until the Joint Strike Fighter comes along", how this is compatible with the Written Answer by the Lord Bach on 5 April (WA 198), which stated that the principal roles of this aircraft are ground attack and reconnaissance, not air defence, and that the missiles it carried were for self-defence. [HL2448]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)

As I stated in my Answer to Lord Lyell, during the debate on 6 April, "the GR7/9 is not an air defence aircraft" (Official Report, col. 1722) and therefore would not provide air defence to the fleet.

Air defence of the fleet is structured in a series of layers. These layers are currently provided by platforms such as Type 42 Anti-Air Warfare Destroyers armed with Sea Dart missiles. This

Front-line fast jet flying hours for financial year 2002–03
April May June July August September October November December January February March Total
Tornado GR4 1,474 1,773 1,759 1,631 1,602 1,784 1,862 1,610 1,387 1,681 1,757 2,437 20,757
Jaguar 792 910 810 788 793 882 919 740 487 631 758 653 9,163
Tornado F3 1,209 1,541 1,166 1,390 1,267 1,402 1,405 1,417 1,197 1,365 1,207 1,947 16,514
Sea Harrier No data No data No data No data 175 342 412 276 146 306 322 275 2,254
Harrier GR7 890 831 812 938 655 813 1,138 847 585 790 621 1,342 10,262
58,950
Percentage of flown hours against the programmed plan was approximately 98 per cent.
Front-line fast jet flying hours for financial year 2003–04
April May June July August September October November December January February March Total
Tornado GR4 2,644 1,507 2,117 2,238 1,553 1,941 2,134 1,666 1,333 1,751 1,817 2,085 22,782
Jaguar 707 571 720 846 775 721 758 678 389 651 780 760 8,355
Tornado F3 1,215 1,210 1,682 1,438 1,208 1,536 1,425 1,075 787 1,454 1,750 1,793 16,573
Sea Harrier 203 362 363 435 199 314 347 289 161 247 260 268 3,448
Harrier GR7 1,669 495 1,076 905 646 747 955 694 467 810 692 891 10,047
61,205
Percentage of flown hours against the programmed plan was approximately 99.6 per cent.
Please note: These figures do not include Tornado F3 flying hours in the Falkland Islands.