§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence which warships capable of providing an amphibious assault capability will be available in(a) 2002 and (b) 2003; and if he will make a statement. [64819]
§ Mr. IngramI refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 7 March 2002, Official Report, column 474W, to my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich, West (Mr. Bailey). The amphibious assault capability is currently provided by the Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) HMS Ocean and four Landing Ships Logistic (LSL). Following a series of highly successful operational deployments, HMS Ocean will shortly enter a docking period to conduct essential maintenance and planned capability enhancement, and will be unavailable for tasking until the autumn. During this period the amphibious assault capability could, if required, be provided by HMS Ark Royal in the LPH role and other platforms as may be required.
In 2003, as well as HMS Ocean and four LSLs, the LPD replacement ship, HMS Albion, will become available to provide our amphibious assault capability. The new ship will be significantly more capable than her predecessor, HMS Fearless, able to deploy embarked forces much more quickly—by air and by sea—and will use new landing craft with 20 per cent. more landing capability and a Ro—Ro type configuration for rapid embarkation of vehicles.