§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what progress has been made in providing increased engineer support to the air manoeuvre brigade; and if he will make a statement; [117489]
(2) what progress has been made in developing the 24 Airmobile Brigade into a high-capability air manoeuvre formation; and if he will make a statement. [117499]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 3 April 2000]: Sixteen Air Assault Brigade formed on 1 September 1999. It already has three infantry battalions and three aviation regiments under command. It is supported by a dedicated artillery regiment although this will not move from Aldershot to Colchester until at least 2003. The Engineer Regiment to support the Brigade will be formed when barrack facilities have been constructed at Woodbridge in 2003.
In the interim 9 Parachute Squadron RE and 51 Air Assault Squadron will continue to support the Brigade from their current locations—Aldershot and Ripon respectively. The logistic units which support the Brigade are currently reorganising to their new structure and this should be complete by 2002. The Brigade is also preparing to exploit the potential of the Westland Apache helicopter, the first squadron of which is due to be operational in late 2002.