Lord Bruce of Doningtonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What arrangements are being made to provide ground-based and simulator training for the Army's attack helicopter air and ground crew. [HL429]
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Gilbert)Subject to satisfactory completion of contract negotiations, we intend to place a public/private partnership contract with a Joint Venture Company (JVC) formed by GKN Westland Helicopters Limited and the Boeing Corporation. The JVC will provide a service to meet all our requirements for ground based training and simulators in support of the attack helicopter.
This contract will ensure that we can take full advantage of the capabilities of the attack helicopter. The contract will run for 30 years and the JVC will be responsible for supplying all the equipment and instructional staff necessary to provide the required level of service.