§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the average time spent at low level in(a) sorties which contain low-flying elements and (b) all sorties.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleThe information requested is not readily available but it is estimated that the average time spent at low level during sorties using the United Kingdom low-flying system is some 40 minutes.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give a breakdown, for each type of Royal Air Force aircraft, of the number of(a) hours and (b) sorties flown at low level in each year since 1979.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleI refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. Redmond) on 26 July 1990 at column527, and to my Department's evidence to the Defence Committee inquiry into low flying (HC 120, page 140), which give information on the number of low-level sorties carried out annually by Royal Air Force aircraft since 1979. I regret that central records do not provide information on the number of hours flown at low level by individual Royal Air Force aircraft types.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many low-flying sorties were carried out over the United Kingdom in the month of September.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleThe number of low-flying sorties flown in the United Kingdom during September were 11,361.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether any decision has been made on the locations for Harrier GR7 night-time low-flying training.
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