§ Baroness Park of Monmouthasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the cost of a helicopter in the Chinook Mark 2/2A fleet. [HL3583]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe Chinook Mk2 is a modified Chinook Mk1 and there are, therefore, no procurement costs available for this variant. The Chinook Mk2A was procured in 1995 at a unit cost of some 20.2 million US dollars. This figure excludes the cost of engines, which were provided by the Ministry of Defence from existing stock holdings. The replacement cost of a Chinook engine is currently some 2.1 million US dollars.
§ Baroness Park of Monmouthasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the cost of supplying and fitting each cockpit voice and flight data recorder to the Royal Air Force Chinook Mark 2/2A fleet. [HL3582]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanExcluding one-offs and ground station costs, the cost to supply and fit Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (which include cockpit voice and flight data recorders) to each aircraft of the RAF Chinook Mk2/2a fleet is £320,000 (at 1999 prices).
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§ Baroness Park of Monmouthasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Chinooks being used in Sierra Leone are part of the Mark 2/2A fleet: and whether they are being equipped with cockpit voice and flight data recorders; and [HL3580]
Whether Chinooks operating in Northern Ireland, Kosovo and Iraq respectively are from the Mark 2/2A fleet; and whether they are being equipped with cockpit voice and flight data recorders. [HL3581]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe Chinook helicopters recently used in Sierra Leone and Kosovo, and currently used in Northern Ireland, are Mark 2 aircraft which were not fitted with cockpit voice and flight data recorders. Chinook helicopters have not operated in Iraq since the Gulf War in 1991. A programme to fit cockpit voice and flight data recorders to the Chinook Mark 2/2A fleet as part of the Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) should be completed by August 2001.