§ Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to acquire Primary Casualty Receiving ships. [116452]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 27 March 2000]Our current requirement for a Primary Casualty Receiving ship capability was identified in the Strategic Defence Review and is based on the provision of two ships at different states of readiness each capable of carrying a 200 bed hospital. We hope to place a contract for this in 2002 with the ships being available from 2005.
§ Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made in the upgrading of afloat medical support facilities. [116450]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 27 March 2000]The three vessels whose medical support facilities are to be upgraded are the Royal Fleet Auxiliaries Argus, Fort George and Fort Victoria. The design work necessary to upgrade the facilities is well advanced and the procurement of equipment has commenced. We plan to carry out the installation work on Argus and Fort George in 2001 and on Fort Victoria in 2002, during scheduled maintenance periods.
§ Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) when the expected in-service date is for the Royal Navy survey ships which will replace HMS Beagle and HMS Bulldog; [116454]
208W(2) when he will withdraw from service (a) HMS Roebuck, (b) HMS Hecla and (c) HMS Herald; [116455]
(3) what plans he has to procure new survey ships for the Royal Navy. [l16456]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 27 March 2000]The existing Royal Navy Hydrographic Survey Squadron includes HMS Herald, HMS Bulldog, HMS Beagle, and HMS Roebuck (HMS Hecla was taken out of service in December 1996). The first three of these vessels are planned to leave service between mid 2001 and early 2002 with HMS Roebuck being maintained into 2003.
To meet our future requirements, we plan to replace these ships with new, more capable, multi-role survey vessels, backed by a long-term in-service support contract. These new vessels will provide both hydrographic and oceanographic military surveying data, as well as a combat survey and mine warfare support capability. Balance of investment considerations, including the number of vessels to be acquired, are ongoing, as are contractual negotiations with the preferred bidder, Vosper Thornycroft. We plan to place a contract in the next few months, with new vessels entering service from 2002.
§ Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what will be the cost of each Type 45 destroyer. [116449]
§ Dr. MoonieThis is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Robert Walmsley to Mr. Iain Duncan Smith, dated 30 March 2000
I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the cost of the Type 45 destroyer. This matter falls to me to answer within my area of responsibility as Chief of Defence Procurement and Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency.The total programme cost for the twelve currently planned Type 45 warships including their missiles is approximately £6Bn. This includes approximately £1.2Bn for the development, design and build of the first of class ship and £lBn for the development and initial production of the Principal Anti Air Missile System (PAAMS). The balance contains funding for further missile procurement and allows for the incremental acquisition of the combat system. As a result, the platform design will incorporate significant growth margins. The actual cost per individual ship is thus difficult to assess but the average is expected to be within a target cost of about £270M excluding missiles.