Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many retired Tornado aircraft remain in the possession of the RAF.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Tornado aircraft went out of RAF service in 2019 and has been through a thorough disposal process. The RAF have retained 16 Tornado aircraft across different variants for use as ground based training aids and gate guardians but none are airworthy and the majority of their systems have been permanently removed or inhibited to ensure long-term safety for ground instruction training or public display.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have for the future of HMS Bristol.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
I refer my noble Friend to the answer I gave on 15 November 2022 to Question HL3303 to the noble Lord, Lord West of Spithead.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) destroyers, and (2) frigates, are presently available for service with the Royal Navy.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Six Destroyers and twelve Frigates are in-service with the Royal Navy. They rotate through operational deployments, exercises and periods of planned maintenance.
At present, of the six Destroyers, four are available for operations with the remainder in long term refit. Of the twelve Frigates, eight are available for operations with the remainder in long term refit.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 12 January (HL Deb, col 1083), whether they have anything further to add about whether one of the UK's Trident submarines is always on patrol.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Since April 1969, there has always been at least one Royal Navy nuclear-armed submarine at sea keeping us safe from the most extreme threats to our national security and way of life. We will maintain four deterrent submarines to ensure at least one will always be on a Continuous At Sea Deterrence patrol.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect the first of the new Dreadnought-class submarines to go to sea; and when they expect it to go into service.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The first Dreadnought Class ballistic missile submarine will enter service in the early 2030s, as set out most recently in the eighth Annual Update to Parliament on the United Kingdom's Future Nuclear Deterrent, published on 20 December 2019.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the role of HMS Bristol.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
HMS BRISTOL provides an alongside maritime training and accommodation capability at HMS EXCELLENT in Portsmouth.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Goldie on 2 August (HL17439), who now owns HMS Bristol.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
HMS BRISTOL left active service in 1991 but remains a commissioned ship in the Royal Navy. She currently provides an alongside training and accommodation facility at the shore training establishment HMS EXCELLENT. Having been converted to provide this facility, she could not be returned to active service.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) destroyers, and (2) frigates, are presently on order for the Royal Navy.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
There are currently six Type 45 Destroyers and 13 Type 23 Frigates in service with the Royal Navy.
There are no destroyers on order. Three Type 26 Frigates are currently on order. We plan to award a contract for five Type 31 Frigates by the end of 2019, and a contract for the second batch of five Type 26 Frigates in the early 2020s.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) destroyers, and (2) frigates, are presently in service with the Royal Navy.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
There are currently six Type 45 Destroyers and 13 Type 23 Frigates in service with the Royal Navy.
There are no destroyers on order. Three Type 26 Frigates are currently on order. We plan to award a contract for five Type 31 Frigates by the end of 2019, and a contract for the second batch of five Type 26 Frigates in the early 2020s.
Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many de-commissioned (1) destroyers, and (2) frigates, remain in the ownership of the Ministry of Defence; and how many of those, if any, could be returned to service.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Ministry of Defence owns no decommissioned destroyers or frigates; therefore, none are available to be returned to service.