§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the remaining life expectancy is of the existing air-to-air refuelling tankers. [63630]
§ Dr. MoonieThe existing Royal Air Force refuelling fleet is made up of two aircraft types comprising 19 VC1Os and six TriStars. On current plans, all the VC10s are due to go out of service by the end of this decade with the TriStars leaving service shortly afterwards. Precise dates can be amended as necessary to ensure a smooth transition to the new air-to-air refuelling capability to be provided by the future strategic tanker aircraft when it enters service.
§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Hercules C-130Js are capable of air-to-air refuelling. [63631]
§ Dr. MoonieEach of the Hercules C-130Js can be refuelled in the air as and when necessary.
§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many air-to-air refuelling operations occurred in each of the last 12 months. [63594]
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§ Dr. MoonieThe table shows the number of air-to-air refuelling sorties that have occurred in each of the last 12 months since June 2001. These figures exclude 456 sorties where no fuel was transferred, including sorties carried out for training purposes.
Air-to-air refuelling sorties Month/year Number 2001 June 198 July 179 August 269 September 165 October 264 November 252 December 198 2002 January 200 February 177 March 132 April 162 May 152
§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the A340 air tanker project will have a helicopter refuelling capability. [63595]
§ Dr. MoonieI presume that the hon. Member is referring to the future strategic tanker aircraft project for which the potential aircraft solutions are the Airbus A330 and the Boeing 767. The future strategic aircraft will provide air-to-air refuelling capability in support of our fast jet and large aircraft fleets. It will not be a suitable platform from which to undertake helicopter refuelling.
§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the expected cost of the A340 air tanker project is. [63596]
§ Dr. MoonieI presume that the hon. Member is referring to the future strategic tanker aircraft project for which the potential aircraft solutions are the Airbus A330 and the Boeing 767. We are evaluating the potential for the future strategic tanker aircraft capability to be provided via a PFI service based contract. Under such an arrangement costs will depend upon usage of the service. Based on our expected usage over the anticipated 27-year duration of the contract, we currently estimate the whole life cost of the capability to be around £13 billion at outturn prices.
§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with the Treasury about the A340 Air Tanker project. [63598]
§ Dr. MoonieI presume that the hon. Member is referring to the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft project for which the potential aircraft solutions are the Airbus A330 and the Boeing 767. Officials of the Ministry of Defence regularly discuss the project with their counterparts in the Treasury as a matter of routine. Ministers of the two Departments have not recently discussed the project.
§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) when he will have completed negotiations with the bidders for the A340 Air Tanker project; when he will 903W announce the preferred bidder for the project; when production of the A340 Air Tanker project will commence; and when it will be fully operational; [63593]
(2) what savings he expects from the 12-month delay to the Air Tanker project; [63599]
(3) for what reason the A340 Air Tanker project is to be delayed. [63597]
§ Dr. MoonieI presume that the hon. Member is referring to the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft project for which the potential aircraft solutions are the Airbus A330 and the Boeing 767. This prospective PFI project is currently in a competitive assessment phase and two consortia have submitted bids for the contract. I announced to the House on 17 June 2002 that commercial discussions with industry are taking longer than anticipated to complete. It is not yet possible to confirm when we will be in a position to announce the preferred contractor and move to financial close on the contract. We are working closely with industry to ensure that sound decisions are taken as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we have delayed the planned introduction of the PFI service until 2008. This will allow further time for these complex negotiations to be completed. The service is expected to be fully operational by 2012. We do not expect to achieve any overall cost saving as a result of the delay.