§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the cost of the airborne exercise in France carried out between 1 April 1997 and 31 March 1998. [72925]
§ Mr. Doug HendersonThis exercise was a reciprocal exchange exercise between the Parachute Regiment and the French 1 Regiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes, involving 80 personnel from the Parachute Regiment, which took place in France in September 1997. The only additional cost for this exercise was for personnel to travel to and from France at a cost of £3,100 as exercises conducted under a reciprocal agreement are at no cost to the visiting force because personnel exchange places and use the supporting assets that are already in place.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the cost of, which countries had armed forces involved in, what assessment he has made of the value of and how many personnel were deployed on the air exercises in the USA carried out between 1 April 1997 and 31 March 1998. [76597]
§ Mr. Doug HendersonThe UK was involved in a number of air exercises in the USA in the specified time period, all of which provided excellent and valuable training opportunities for the participating forces. Holland, Brazil, Singapore and Spain also participated in the exercises, with the UK and the US. For fast jet exercises, the total additional cost to the UK was some £1.85 million, with a total of 1,600 UK personnel being deployed in the specified time period, although no more than 500 personnel were deployed for a single exercise. For Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) exercises, the total additional cost to the UK was some £600K, with a total of 550 UK personnel being deployed in the specified time period, although no more than 200 personnel were deployed for a single exercise.
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§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the cost of, which countries had armed forces involved in, and how many personnel were deployed on the jungle training exercise in Singapore carried out between 1 April 1997 and 31 March 1998. [76590]
§ Mr. Doug Henderson835 personnel from the Royal Marine Command deployed, via Singapore, for a jungle training exercise in Malaysia. The exercise formed part of the Ocean Wave Far East deployment and the additional cost incurred was £51K. The exercises involved personnel of the UK and Royal Malaysian Armed Forces.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel were deployed on the jungle training exercise in Thailand carried out between 1 April 1997 and 31 March 1998. [76593]
§ Mr. Doug Henderson136 personnel of the Royal Marine Command participated in this exercise.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the cost of the three infantry battalion exercises in Kenya carried out between 1 April 1997 and 31 March 1998. [72971]
§ Mr. Doug Henderson[holding answer 1 March 1999]: The cost of the three infantry battalion exercises in Kenya carried out between 1 April 1997 and 31 March 1998 was as follows:
£million Exercise Cost Grand Prix 1/97 0.063 Grand Prix 2/97 0.622 Grand Prix 3/97 0.672 Total 1.357 The cost of Grand Prix 1/97 excludes the costs of movement by RAF transport aircraft and from Kenya, as these figures are no longer available. The costs of ammunition and of spares consumed during the exercise are also excluded as these costs are not separately identified.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the cost of the combined maritime and
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Army RN RAF Year Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Total Officers 1989 Not available 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1990 2 1 3 3 0 3 1 0 1 7 1991 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 4 1992 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 2 4 1993 2 0 2 0 0 0 2 1 3 5 1994 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1995 0 0 0 4 1 5 4 0 4 9 1996 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 0 3 4 1997 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 2 3 1998 Not available 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 Other ranks 1989 — — 132 8 1 9 — — 119 60 1990 20 19 39 11 1 12 14 5 19 70 1991 21 16 37 5 1 6 4 1 5 48 1992 13 15 28 12 3 15 6 4 10 53 1993 18 15 33 12 1 13 9 3 12 58 1994 17 12 29 7 6 13 5 3 8 50 1995 21 6 27 13 1 14 11 1 12 53 1996 28 11 139 10 7 17 3 4 7 63 1997 18 13 131 8 5 13 5 0 5 49 1998 26 16 142 11 6 17 3 2 5 64 1 These figures represent administrative discharges only. They do not include figures for dismissals air exercise in Malaysia carried out between 1 April 1997 and 31 March 1998. [76611]
§ Mr. Doug HendersonAs I advised the hon. Member on 4 March 1999,Official Report, column 866, the RN participated in Exercise "Flying Fish" as part of their "Ocean Wave" deployment, the total additional cost of which was approximately £9.8M. The additional cost to the RAF of Exercise "Flying Fish" was some £800K.