§ Mr. Quentin DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is the Royal Air Force's total inventory of Tornado F3s; and how many are operationally available; [128708]
(2) what is the Royal Air Force's total inventory of (a) Harrier GR7s, (b) Tornado GR1s and (c) Jaguar GR1s; and how many in (a), (b)and (c)are operationally available; [128706]
(3) how many Tornado GR4s are in operational service; [128705]
(4) how many (a) Tornado GR1, (b) Tornado F3 and (c) Jaguar GR1 are held in reserve; and how long it would take for the aircraft in (a), (b) and (c) to be returned to front-line duties; [128707]
450W(5) how many Nimrod MR2s are (a) in service, (b) operationally available and (c) in the process of being upgraded to MR4 standard. [128703]
§ Mr. SpellarThe information requested is detailed in the table:
Aircraft type Total RAF inventory Operating fleet1 Sustainment fleet2 Aircraft in storage Tornado F3 3138 85 29 — Tornado GR1 110 73 436 1 Tornado GR4 64 52 512 — Jaguar GR1/GR3/GR3A 698 38 7 12 Harrier GR7 75 52 723 — Nimrod MR2 822 18 4 — 1Aircraft available to operational commanders 2Aircraft needed to sustain operations through major maintenance and upgrades 324 Tornado F3 currently not required by the RAF are on loan to the Italian Air Force 420 of these GR1 currently in conversion to GR4 5Three of these GR4 aircraft are on loan to DERA for trials 641 Jaguar GR1 are used as Ground Instructional Aircraft and are not available to fly 7Four of these Harrier GR7 are on loan to DERA for trials 8The Nimrod MR2s will be replaced by 21 Nimrod MRA4. Six airframes are currently in conversion to MRA4 The degree of operational urgency and availability of resources would dictate the time it would take to restore Tornado and Jaguar airframes in storage to front-line duties.