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Written Question
Parachute Regiment
Friday 7th April 2017

Asked by: Lord Robathan (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many personnel serving in the Parachute Regiment or supporting arms attached to Parachute Regiment Battalions, are not qualified as military parachutists and have not completed the required parachute training.

Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords

The table below sets out the number of Regular and Reserve personnel serving in the Parachute Regiment or supporting arms attached to the Parachute Regiment Battalions who have not completed the Army Basic Parachute Course as of 1 April 2017.

Part qualified

Not qualified

Parachute Regiment

180

230

Attached personnel

10

10

Part qualified personnel are those who have completed 90 per cent of the course and are therefore considered to be Limited Combat Ready. Unqualified personnel will have successfully completed the Pre-Parachute Selection process and await upload to parachute training.

Central information is not held to this level, therefore figures are locally produced management information. The figures provided have been rounded to the nearest 10 to limit disclosure and ensure confidentiality.


Written Question
Hercules Aircraft
Tuesday 4th April 2017

Asked by: Lord Robathan (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many hours the RAF fleet of C-130Js has flown in each year since entering service; and what was the average cost per flying hour for the C-130J over the same period.

Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords

The first C-130J was delivered in 1998. The information requested on the C-130J is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Figures for the planned flying hours from financial years 2000-01 to 2015-16 are given in the table below. Figures reflect the total C-130 fleet irrespective of aircraft Mark, and therefore include the C-130K which is now out of service.

C-130 Fleet Planned Flying Hours

Financial Year

Planned Flying Hours

2000-01

36,710

2001-02

36,710

2002-03

37,460

2003-04

37,460

2004-05

34,960

2005-06

34,960

2006-07

34,960

2007-08

34,960

2008-09

29,600

2009-10

28,720

2010-11

28,060

2011-12

26,080

2012-13

24,440

2013-14

22,150

2014-15

13,690

2015-16

13,640

Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.