§ Mr. Quentin DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the future of RAF Brize Norton. [137725]
§ Mr. SpellarRAF Brize Norton is home to the RAF's VC10 and TriStar Air-to-Air Refuelling/Air Transport aircraft, which are due to be replaced from 2007 under the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) programme. We are currently investigating the potential for achieving a solution under the Private Finance Initiative which 335W would involve a commercial consortium working in close partnership with the RAF to provide an Air-to-Air Refuelling service.
Once an Invitation to Negotiate has been issued, we will evaluate the proposals for meeting the FSTA requirement. Final decisions on the programme are not anticipated before 2002.
In seeking Private Finance Initiative bids for FSTA we do not plan to place commercial constraints on the competing consortia by specifying the UK location of the operating base. However, any proposal to move Air-to-Air Refuelling operations from RAF Brize Norton would need to provide us with best value for money and protect our operational capability. At the same time, and without prejudicing the FSTA programme, we are looking at some further commercialisation of RAF Brize Norton to utilise irreducible spare capacity.
In addition, I announced on 7 June 2000, Official Report, column 389, that RAF Brize Norton would be the future home of the C17 fleet, which will provide a strategic air transport capability. RAF Brize Norton is also the location for a number of key operational units.