§ Mr. Gerald HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the requirement for the Future Joint
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1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Navy Admiral 2 0 0 3 2 3 Vice Admiral 0 2 0 4 0 0 Rear Admiral 3 6 3 3 3 1 Commodore 2 2 4 2 8 2 Captain 2 0 3 2 1 0 Commander 9 5 1 10 5 5 Lt. Command 7 6 10 8 17 1 Lieutenant 1 1 3 2 1 0 Army General 1 3 3 2 1 0 Lt. General 4 10 0 0 0 1 Major General 5 1 9 3 1 1 Brigadier 7 7 4 5 4 4 Colonel 1 0 6 1 3 5 Lt. Colonel 4 19 6 7 3 2 Major 4 3 10 3 4 6 Captain 1 1 4 0 0 2 Lieutenant 0 0 2 0 1 0 RAF Air Chief Marshall 0 9 1 1 1 0 Air Marshal 3 0 8 2 2 0 Air Vice-Marshall 1 13 6 7 5 2 Air Commodore 8 4 8 3 7 3 Group Captain 5 6 3 7 10 5 Wing Commander 24 7 10 22 16 10 Squadron Leader 9 11 7 8 8 2 Flt. Lieutenant 5 2 6 2 3 3 Combat Aircraft is dependent on the procurement of 50–60,000 tonne aircraft carriers; and what effect changes to the displacement of the future carriers would have on the requirement for the number of Joint Combat Aircraft. [182388]
§ Mr. CaplinThe physical size of any aircraft carrier will limit the maximum number of aircraft that can operate from it. The Department has not sought to fix the dimensions of the aircraft carriers during the assessment phase. The design of the ships will continue to evolve as we seek to balance the overall performance, time and cost parameters of this complex project as part of normal assessment phase activity. Decisions on the capability to be provided by CVF, including the number of aircraft capable of being deployed, will be taken at the Main Gate investment point.