HC Deb 31 January 2002 vol 379 c500W
Patrick Mercer

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the introduction of a fleet of tank transporters. [30832]

Dr. Moonie

The current fleet of tank transporters will be replaced with the Heavy Equipment Transport (HET) service being introduced under the private finance initiative. A full service, provided by 92 HET vehicles, will be introduced over a 12-month period beginning in 2003. In the interim the Service Demonstration phase, which commenced in December 2001, will provide assurance that all aspects of the Ministry of Defence's capability requirement have been satisfied.