Infantry Tours (Hansard, 16 May 2003)

§ Mr. Jenkin
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which infantry regiments have had a 24-month tour interval in the past five years. [112012]

§ Mr. Ingram
Of the 40 Infantry Battalions, the 29 Battalions listed as follows are expected to achieve at least one 24 month tour interval between deployments in the period January 1999 to December 2003. Deployments have been defined as unaccompanied unit level operational tours.

1^st Bn Grenadier Guards

1^st Bn Coldstream Guards

1^st Bn Scots Guards

1^st Bn Irish Guards

1^st Bn Welsh Guards

1^st Bn The Royal Scots

1^st Bn The Royal Highland Fusiliers

448W

§ Mr. Ingram
The Hercules C-130J Mk 5 aircraft came into service with the RAF in 2000 and forms part of the combined Hercules C-130J and C-130K fleet. The Hercules fleet provides a strategic lift capability for the RAF and it is currently planned that the C-130J Mk 5 will have a service life well into the present century.

§ Norman Lamb
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many hours have been flown in each of the last 12 months by(a) the RAF's short-fuselage C-130J Hercules C5 aircraft, (b) the long-fuselage Hercules C4s and (c) C-130K Hercules variants. [112693]

§ Mr. Ingram
The following table shows the number of flying hours achieved for each Hercules aircraft type over the last 12 months:

1^st Bn The King's Own Scottish Borderers

1^st Bn The Black Watch

1^st Bn The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders

1^st Bn The Highlanders

1^st Bn The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment

2^nd Bn The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment

1^st Bn The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers

1^st Bn The Royal Anglian Regiment

1^st Bn The King's Own Royal Border Regiment

1^st Bn The King's Regiment

1^st Bn The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire

1^st Bn The Green Howards

1^st Bn The Queen's Lancashire Regiment

1^st Bn The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment

1^st Bn The Royal Welch Fusiliers

1^st Bn The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment

1^st Bn The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment

1^st Bn The Light Infantry

2^nd Bn The Light Infantry

1^st Bn The Royal Green Jackets

2^nd Bn The Royal Green Jackets

1^st Bn The Royal Gurkha Rifles