§ Lord Eltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are considering either refurbishing all or part of the RAF's fleet of C130 transport aircraft, or replacing all or part of that fleet with Euroflag's Future Large Aircraft (FLA); and, if so, how many jobs they expect would be created in Northern Ireland and in Great Britain respectively, and what they expect the UK aerospace industry would gain, from each of the options they are considering.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Viscount Cranborne)The RAF Hercules C130K fleet is coming to the end of its life. We expect to tackle the question of replacement in two tranches. In the first tranche we will either replace or refurbish the existing aircraft. The Future Large Aircraft would not be available in time to be considered as a possible replacement in the first tranche; it will however be considered for the second tranche, if it is by then available. Whichever option we adopt will have substantial benefits for United Kingdom companies whether as main or subcontractors.