§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the incidents involving Argentinian military personnel and(a) British troops and (b) Falkland Islands residents in the past six years. [129906]
§ Mr. IngramThe armed forces of the United Kingdom and Argentina participate in a range of joint activities as part of a bilateral defence relations programme. We are unaware of any significant incidents between Argentinian military personnel and our own armed forces or residents of the Falkland Islands.
§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many(a) fisheries protection vessels and (b) maritime patrol aircraft have been operational in the Falkland Islands in each of the past six years. [129908]
§ Mr. IngramFisheries Protection Vessels are provided by the Falklands Islands Government. In addition, the Falkland Islands Patrol Vessel is permanently stationed in the Falkland Islands, with the exception of short absences for visits and maintenance periods in South America. Maritime air patrol tasks are undertaken by assets permanently stationed in the Falkland Islands (currently a C-130 and a VC-10), and on various occasions over the past six years specialist maritime patrol aircraft have also been deployed to the Falkland Islands.
§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the strength of(a) the Army, (b) the Royal Navy and (c) the Royal Air Force in the Falkland Islands has been in each of the last six years. [129910]
§ Mr. IngramForce level in the Falkland Islands for each of the past six years, broken down by service, are shown in the following table. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10, and, due to rounding methods used, totals may not equal the sum of the individual components.
949W
April 1997 April 1998 April 1999 April 2000 April 2001 April 2002 October 2002 Naval Service 260 100 50 270 40 40 40 Army 620 600 640 580 680 640 480 RAF 900 850 860 770 740 670 670 Total 1,790 1,550 1,550 1,620 1,460 1,350 1,200