Asked by: Bob Ainsworth (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what capabilities are currently being utilised to fulfil the role that would otherwise have been undertaken by Nimrod MRA4 aircraft; and what captabilities will fulfil that role in the long term.
Answered by Mark Francois
Since the Nimrod MR2 was taken out of service in 2009, some 12 months early, for financial reasons, by the then Defence Secretary, a range of assets were put in place by the previous Government to cover the capability, namely Type 23 frigates, Merlin Anti-Submarine Warfare helicopters and C-130 Hercules aircraft. The MRA4 project was nearly £800 million over budget, 10 years overdue and the aircraft could not pass airworthiness tests.
The Ministry of Defence is currently reviewing the UK's air intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance requirements, including wide area maritime surveillance, and is identifying potential solutions. This work will provide analysis in support of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Asked by: Bob Ainsworth (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding his Department allocated to the Conflict Pool for South Asia in each of the last three years.
Answered by Mark Francois
The Conflict Pool is funded from a Treasury settlement which is separate from and additional to departmental budgets and is administered jointly by the Ministry of Defence, the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for conflict prevention and mitigation work. Details of Conflict Pool allocations are provided to Parliament annually in a Written Ministerial Statement. Statements for financial years (FY) 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 are attached.
A Statement giving details of Conflict Pool allocations for FY 2014-15 will be released to the House shortly.
Asked by: Bob Ainsworth (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it remains his policy to meet the NATO target of spending 2 per cent of gross domestic product on defence; and what recent discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with their NATO counterparts on this issue.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK is one of just four NATO nations to spend 2 per cent or more of gross domestic product on Defence. On current plans, defence spending will continue to meet the 2 per cent target for the current Spending Review period. Decisions on public spending after 2015-16 will be made in the next Spending Review.
The question of Defence spending by European NATO partners is regularly discussed at NATO Defence Ministerial meetings.
Asked by: Bob Ainsworth (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress he has made in re-basing those elements of the armed forces based in Germany; and what recent discussions he has had with German federal and regional authorities on the practical logistics involved in such a withdrawal.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Significant progress has been made on the withdrawal of British troops from Germany. Having closed Celle Station in 2012, the closures of the Rheindahlen Military Complex and Münster Station were completed in 2013, and Hameln Station will close by December 2014. The programme remains on track to deliver, enabling us to close and release Elmpt and Herford Stations by December 2015, followed by the closure of Hohne and Fallingbostel Stations before March 2016.
We have already reduced our military numbers in Germany by 33% through the programme of preliminary moves and unit disbandments, and the first tranche of major unit moves and re-roling from Germany will occur in 2015. These moves will result in a reduction of up to 70% of troops by the end of 2015, exceeding the Strategic Defence and Security Review target of bringing back half of those personnel based in Germany by 2015. The remaining troops will relocate by 2019, as part of our intent to base the three high readiness Reaction Force Brigades on Salisbury Plain.
The Secretary of State for Defence met with the German Defence Minister, Frau Dr Ursula von der Leyen, on 13 January to discuss a number of issues, including the withdrawal of our troops from Germany. More widely, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) continues to liaise with the German authorities at a number of levels: through Ministers and officials in the UK: the Defence Attaché in the British Embassy in Berlin; and the General Officer Commanding British Forces Germany, other regional British Commanders and a network of in-country liaison officers. MOD officials are also liaising with their German counterparts to assist in finding alternative uses for the facilities that will be vacated by the British Forces.
Asked by: Bob Ainsworth (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the future acquisition requirements for intelligence surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance systems.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Department assesses potential future acquisition requirements for intelligence surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) systems as part of the annual Capability Audit process, which considers current and future capability gaps, and the options to fill them. On recent operations the Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) mechanism has also been used to expedite the delivery of ISTAR equipment to fill such capability gaps in the short-term (such as the REAPER Remotely-Piloted Aerial System). As the MOD reorganises itself for broader contingent operations, the annual Capability Audit process will continue to assess which of these UOR equipments have broad utility and should continue to receive funding. In parallel, separate capability investigations are underway, predominantly in support of prospective consideration during the next Defence Review. This analysis includes the ongoing Air ISTAR Optimisation Review.
Asked by: Bob Ainsworth (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's recruitment targets are for its Joint Cyber Reserve Unit.
Answered by Mark Francois
I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 March 2014, (Official Report, column 56W) to the hon. Member for Makerfield (Yvonne Fovargue).
Asked by: Bob Ainsworth (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with their NATO counterparts on the establishment of a NATO-wide cyber capability.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
NATO-wide Cyber Defence is provided by NATO's Computer Incident Response Capability (NCIRC) which delivers centralised protection for many NATO sites. The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) has recently undertaken a major upgrade of NCIRC's capability with enhancements delivered in monitoring of core networks on NATO sites on a 24/7 basis. NCIA will continue to manage the upgrade of NCIRC's capability to best protect NATO owned systems from the evolving threat.
Progress enhancing the NATO Cyber Defence was most recently discussed at Ministerial level, at the February NATO Defence Ministerial and will be discussed again at the June Defence Ministerial as the Alliance prepares for the WALES Summit in September. The UK continues to pay a central role in moving this issue forward across a whole range of activities such as incentivising national cyber defence capability development to develop Alliance-wide cyber defence capability, information sharing and exchanging best practice.
Asked by: Bob Ainsworth (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) associated costs and (b) utility of the Trident Alternatives Review.
Answered by Lord Hammond of Runnymede
I have made no such assessment.