Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total number of military low-level training sorties flown over the United Kingdom in each year since 1974, calculated by the pre-1985 method of logging movements between low flying areas.
§ Mr. FreemanThe information, calculated on the basis requested, is as follows :
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Low-level sorties (ie below 2,000 feet) as calculated by pre-1985 method Number 1974 71,000 1975 78,000 1976 77,700 1977 76,000 1978 76,000 1979 108,860 1980 122,850 1981 131,840 1982 130,310 1983 128,000 1984 133,500 1985 134,247 1986 142,971 11987 98,935 1 Figure up to 30 September 1987.
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide a monthly breakdown of the figures for low-level military training sorties over the United Kingdom since 1974.
§ Mr. FreemanThe information requested is not available prior to 1979. Before 1985, sortie numbers were not recorded directly but calculated from movements. Also some monthly figures for 1983 and before were estimates, which were corrected on aggregation. Details for the years 1979–87 are as follows:
Month Year 1979 1980 1981 January 411 10,034 9,271 February 8,291 8,373 10,208 March 8,555 9,884 11,854 April 7,424 11,045 10,105 May n/a 11,716 11,196 June n/a 11,602 14,124 July 9,989 12,229 12,830 August 8,011 7,976 10,005 September 10,642 10,714 11,551 October 9,881 11,156 12,476 November 10,850 9,365 11,431 December 8,828 8,756 6,790 1982 1983 1984 January 9,567 9,794 8,954 February 9,456 12,197 9,112 March 14,992 12,265 11,505 April 10,759 11,802 12,972 May 12,116 12,520 12,967 June 11,827 15,010 13,715 July 11,443 15,109 13,678 August 10,366 10,482 10,532 September 10,950 9,768 9,973 October 10,339 11,585 12,421 November 11,053 10,201 9,929 December 7,477 8,614 7,761 1985 1986 1987 January 9,723 11,532 8,222 February 10,436 12,264 12,527 March 12,973 10,145 12,515 April 12,793 14,863 13,006 May 12,534 13,366 14,364 June 13,158 13,413 13,787 July 14,267 17,519 14,071 August 11,634 10,229 11,959 September 11,338 12,847 12,954 October 12,849 12,950 — November 12,993 12,968 — December 7,064 9,068 —
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the military low level training sorties flown over the United Kingdom in each year since 1974 took place wholly or partly between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am.
§ Mr. FreemanWe aim to complete low-level flying training before 11 pm wherever possible because we recognise that aircraft noise can be particularly intrusive at night, and we authorise no more activity than is absolutely necessary. The information requested is not, however, available, because military low-level flying is categorised either as day or night flying, and the latter category includes all flying during the period between sunset plus 30 minutes and sunrise minus 30 minutes.
Records of low-level flying at night, under this definition, are available from April 1984, and the proportion of night flying is as follows:
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per cent. 1984 13.8 1985 5.2 1986 4.9 1987 24.8 1 For period 1 April to 31 December. 2 Up to 30 September 1987. A much smaller proportion of all low flying would have been authorised to take place between 11 pm and 7 am.
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total number of low-level military training sorties flown by British military aircraft outside the United Kingdom in each year since 1974.
§ Mr. FreemanWe do not keep records of the total number of low-level military training sorties flown by British military aircraft outside the United Kingdom, and it would require disproportionate effort to obtain this information.
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many low-flying sorties were undertaken over the United Kingdom in each year since 1985 by(a) C-141, (b) C-5, (c) B-52, (d) FB-111, (e) KC-135 and (f) KC-10 aircraft.
§ Mr. FreemanCentral records of low-flying sorties by these aircraft types are not kept and therefore details could not be provided without disproportionate effort.
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many Skyguard radars are to be deployed to monitor adherence to low-flying regulations; and whiich Royal Air Force unit will be responsible for their operations;
(2) if the Skyguard radars being deployed to monitor adherence to low-flying regulations will also be used to provide mobile electronic countermeasures training facilities for low-flying aircraft;
(3) when the first Skyguard radars will be deployed to monitor adherence to low-flying regulations.
§ Mr. FreemanSkyguard radars are currently in service with 2729 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment to provide short range air defence (SHORAD) for RAF Coningsby. One system is also based at RAF Spadeadam for use as a threat simulator in electronic warfare training. The possibility of using a Skyguard system to monitor the heights of low-flying aircraft was the subject of a recent trial. The equipment's potential in this role will not be clear until the results of the trial have been fully assessed.