§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many helicopters are in service in the(a) Army, (b) Navy and (c) Air Force; if he will break these down by number and type; and if he will make a statement. [18804]
§ Mr. IngramThe numbers of helicopters in service in the Army, Navy and Air Force as at 26 November, broken down by number and type are shown in the table.
352W
Helicopter Actual operating fleet Sustainment fleet1 Disposal2 Comments Navy Merlin Mk1 20 15 0 — Sea King AEW Mk2/7 10 3 0 — Sea King HU Mk5 10 5 2 — Sea King ASW Mk6 18 0 263 — Lynx HAS Mk3 31 7 0 — Lynx HAS Mk8 22 14 0 — Sea King Mk4 33 4 0 JHC Asset Army Lynx 834 40 0 JHC Asset Gazelle 1204 14 0 JHC Asset Bell 212 3 0 0 JHC Asset A 109 3 1 0 JHC Asset Apache AH Mk1 10 8 0 JHC Asset RAF Sea King Mk3 19 0 0 — Sea King Mk3a 6 0 0 — Merlin Mk3 6 1 0 JHC Asset Wessex HC2 8 2 0 JHC Asset Puma 35 6 0 JHC Asset Chinook Mk3 0 4 0 JHC Asset Chinook Mk2/2a 28 12 0 JHC Asset 1 The sustainment fleet includes helicopters undergoing scheduled base maintenance, those that are in development and those held in reserve. 2 Helicopters awaiting disposal. 3 This figure reflects the airframes awaiting disposal following the introduction of the Merlin aircraft. 4 Includes nine aircraft that are School of Army Aviation assets.