HC Deb 07 October 2003 vol 411 cc157-8W
Harry Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many defence attaché staff there are at each diplomatic post abroad; what the roles of those based in the United States are; and what proportion of their working time was spent on each major activity in the last year for which figures are available. [131774]

Mr. Ingram

A total of 128 United Kingdom Defence attachés/advisors are currently deployed in 82 locations as follows:

Country City Number of attachés at post
Albania Tirana 1 Army
Angola Luanda 1 Army
Argentina Buenos Aires 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF)
Australia Canberra 2 (1 RN, 1 RAF)
Austria Vienna 1 Army
Bahrain Manama 1 RN
Barbados Bridgetown 1 RN
Belgium Brussels 1 RAF
Brazil Brasilia 2 (1 RN, 1 RAF)
Brunei Bandar Seri Begawan 1 RN
Bulgaria Sofia 2 (1 RN, 1 Army)
Canada Ottawa 2 (1 RAF. 1 Army)
Chile Santiago 1 Army
China Beijing 2(1 Army, 1 RAF)
Colombia Bogota 1 Army
Congo DRC Kinshasa 1 Army
Croatia Zagreb 1 Army
Cyprus Nicosia 1 Army,
Czech Republic Prague 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF)
Denmark Copenhagen 1 RN
Egypt Cairo 2 (1 RN. 1 Army)
Ethiopia Addis Ababa 1 Army
Finland Helsinki 1 Army
France Paris 3 (1 RN, 1 Army, 1 RAF)
Georgia Tbilisi 1 RN
Germany Berlin 4 (1 RN, 2 Army, 1 RAF)
Ghana Accra 1 Army
Greece Athens 2 (1 RN, 1 Army)
Guatemala Guatemala City 1 Army
Hungary Budapest 2 (1 Army 1 RAF)
India New Delhi 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF)
Indonesia Jakarta 1 Army
Ireland Dublin 1 Army
Israel Tel Aviv 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF)
Italy Rome 3 (1 RN, 1 Army, 1 RAF)
Jamaica Kingston 1 Army
Japan Tokyo 1 RN
Jordan Amman 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF)
Kazakhstan Almaty 1 Army
Kenya Nairobi 1 Army
Korea Seoul 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF)
Kuwait Kuwait City 1 Army
Latvia Riga 1 Army
Lebanon Beirut 1 Army
Lithuania Vilnius 1 Army
Macedonia Skopje 1 Army
Malaysia Kuala Lumpur 2 (1 RN, 1 Army)
Morocco Rabat 1 Army
Nepal Kathrnandu 1 Army
Netherlands The Hague 1 RN
New Zealand Wellington 1 Army
Nigeria Abuja 1 Army
Norway Oslo 1 RN
Oman Muscat 2 (1 RN, 1 Army)
Pakistan Islamabad 2 (1 RN, 1 Army)
Philippines Manila 1 Army
Poland Warsaw 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF)
Portugal Lisbon 1 RN
Qatar Doha 1 RAF
Romania Bucharest 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF)
Russia Moscow 6 (2 RN, 2 Army, 2 RAF)
Saudi Arabia Riyadh 3 (1 RN, 1 Army, 1 RAF)

Country City Number of attachés at post
Serbia and Montenegro Belgrade 1 Army
Sierra Leone Freetown 1 Army
Singapore Singapore 2 (1 RN, 1 RAF)
Slovak Republic Bratislava 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF)
Slovenia Ljubljana 1 Army
South Africa Pretoria 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF)
Spain Madrid 2(1 RN, 1 RAF)
Sri Lanka Colombo 1 Army
Sweden Stockholm 1 RAF
Switzerland Berne 1 Army
Syria Damascus 1 Army
Thailand Bangkok 1 Army
Turkey Ankara 2 (1 Army, 1 RAF)
Uganda Kampala 1 Army
Ukraine Kyiv 2 (1 RN, 1 Army)
United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi 1 Army
USA Washington 8 (3 RN, 3 Army, 2 RAF)
Uzbekistan Tashkent 1 Army
Venezuela Caracas 1 RN
Zimbabwe Harare 1 Army

There are a total of four officers (2 RN, 2 RAF) employed in Canada, Russia, India and USA as Office Managers; these are not accredited diplomatic posts.

The principal role of an attaché is to further the UK's Defence Diplomacy aims in his host country. This is articulated as six core attaché functions:

  • Support to Defence Diplomacy;
  • Provision of Operational Military Advice and Assistance;
  • Provision of Politico-Military Advice;
  • Support to Defence Intelligence;
  • Support to Defence Exports; and
  • Representation and Administrative Support.

With the exception of Washington, the average percentage effort devoted to each core function by attachés employed in British embassy Defence sections is as follows:

  • Support to Defence Diplomacy—38 per cent.
  • Provision of Operational-Military Advice—16 per cent.
  • Provision of Politico-Military Advice—12 per cent.
  • Support to Defence Intelligence—8 per cent.
  • Support to Defence Exports—16 per cent.
  • Representation and Administrative Support—10 per cent.

A similar breakdown of Washington's outputs against the same six functions is as follows:

  • Support to Defence Diplomacy—33 per cent.
  • Provision of Operational-Military Advice—16 per cent.
  • Provision of Politico-Military Advice—15 per cent.
  • Support to Defence Intelligence—14 per cent.
  • Support to Defence Exports—4 per cent.
  • Representation and Administrative Support—18 per cent.

The main area of variance between Washington and the rest of the world is its support to Defence Exports. Within the British Defence Staff Washington there is a significant non-diplomatically accredited Defence Equipment Staff dedicated to supporting this core function.