§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what fire-fighting capacity is possessed by the Boeing Jetfoil, purchased from the United States Navy for oil rig protection;
(2) what is the maximum speed in gale force conditions in the North Sea of the Boeing Jetfoil;
(3) what is the crew complement of the Boeing Jetfoil, purchased from the United States Navy for oil rig protection; and how this compares with the standard crew of a Royal Navy corvette;
(4) what is the range of the Boeing Jetfoil which has been purchased from the United States Navy for oil rig protection;
(5) what alternative designs of British ships were evaluated against the Boeing Jetfoil which has been purchased from the United States Navy for oil rig protection;
(6) what would be the maximum speed of the Boeing Jetfoil, purchased from the United States Navy for oil rig protection, against a 50-knot wind in the North Sea;
(7) what is the maximum speed in a 20ft sea of the Boeing Jetfoil, purchased from the United States Navy at a cost of £17 million for oil rig protection.
§ Mr. DuffyThe Boeing Jetfoil has been ordered from the Boeing Company to enable the Royal Navy to evaluate its effectivess in a variety of roles, including offshore patrol, currently undertaken by conventional ships. It will not have a fire fighting capability. My hon. Friend is under a misapprehension about the price of the craft, which is less than £7 million.
341WThe range of the Jetfoil for the Royal Navy will be about 550 miles when foil-borne, or 1,520 miles when hullborne. It will provide accommodation for five officers and 13 ratings as configured for the Royal Navy, but actual manning levels will depend on the particular roles in which it was deployed and on experience gained in the course of evaluation. The Royal Navy does not operate corvettes, but a rough comparison may be made with the Island class of offshore patrol vessels, which have a standard complement of 34.
In choosing a hydrofoil for evaluation, the Jetfoil was not the only possibility investigated. However, as no British shipbuilder is currently engaged in designing or building hydrofoils of the size needed, there were no British designs to consider.
The weather conditions which the hon. Member postulates are exceptionally severe and would inhibit any vessel's operations, but in more normal conditions we would expect the Jetfoil's performance and seakeeping to be rather better than that of most conventional craft of similar size.