§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many Challenger 1 MBTs are to be sold to the Jordanian army; [95373]
(2) what is the value of the Challenger 1 MBTs to be sold to Jordan. [95345]
§ Mr. KilfoyleAs part of its support for King Abdullah of Jordan on his accession to the throne, and in response to a request from His Majesty, the Government announced in March that we had agreed to supply Jordan with Challenger 1 Main Battle Tanks as they come out of service with the British Army over the next few years. Up to 288 Challenger Is will be supplied.
The Challenger is currently in service with the British Army have a current average book value of £750K each but, on leaving service, that value will reduce to zero. The tanks will therefore be supplied to Jordan at no cost. However, agreement has been reached with Jordan that the Jordanian Government will meet the MOD's additional costs arising out of the Challenger 1 transfer programme.