§ Earl Attleeasked Her Majesty's Government:
What new capability the A400M military transport aircraft will provide that cannot currently be obtained from a combination of C17s, C130Js and C130Ks. [HL1313]
§ Lord BachThe A400M meets our future transport aircraft requirement and is an extremely flexible aircraft in both the tactical and strategic airlift roles. The long-term airlift requirement could not be met by combining C17s, C130Js and C130Ks, as the C130Ks are ageing aircraft. The C130Ks will leave service as the A400M aircraft are brought into service.
§ Earl Attleeasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any new benefits provided by the A400M will be outweighed by the support costs of the Royal Air Force having a third type of transport aircraft in service. [HL1314]
§ Lord BachAt the point that A400M is fully in service we expect there to be only one other type of transport aircraft in use with the Royal Air Force, the C130J. The C130K aircraft will be phased out in parallel with the introduction of the A400M and the 145WA C-17 aircraft currently on lease are scheduled to be returned to Boeing at about the same time.
§ Earl Attleeasked Her Majesty's Government:
What consideration has been given to forming a European military strategic airlift organisation to operate and support all A400M aircraft; and [HL1315]
What consideration has been given to setting up an organisation with one main location for the logistic support for all European A400M aircraft once they come into service. [HL1316]
§ Lord BachThe operation and support concepts for the A400M will be developed in concert with our partner nations and with Airbus Military Company over the next few years. The aim will be to deliver best value for money and the optimum operational effectiveness. We expect the potential for harmonisation of A400M logistic support arrangements will be a major feature of the forthcoming analysis work but have no plans at present to join a European military strategic airlift organisation.
§ Earl Attleeasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the current in-service-date for the RAF A400M fleet. [HL1317]
§ Earl Attleeasked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they have taken to prevent partners in the A400M project buying fewer aircraft than they proposed in the plans that originally secured them a share of the work. [HL1318]
§ Lord BachThe A400M contract will cover both development and production. Thus commitments made at the time of contract let (on which workshare will be based) will be binding for the production phase also. A partner nation could subsequently reduce its offtake but it would then have to compensate the remaining partners so that there is no increase in cost to them. In addition, where the partners are members of OCCAR (the joint armaments agency that is to manage the A400M programme), the principle of global balance will offer the possibility for rebalancing workshare between the relevant member nations over the range of OCCAR managed programmes.