Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total cost is of the five MESAR radars ordered from Northrop Grumman as part of the UK E-7 Wedgetail programme; and whether those MESAR radars have been delivered as of 24 April 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
In regard to the cost of the five Multi-Role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radars, I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 May 2023 to Question 184577.
As of 24 April 2024, the first two MESA radars have been delivered.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated initial operating capability date is for advanced electronically scanned radar on Typhoon aircraft.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
I refer the right hon Member to the answer I gave to the right hon Member for Wentworth and Dearne (Jon Healey) on 30 January 2024 to Question 10724.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated initial operating capability date is for the Royal Navy's proposed submersible ship nuclear replacement submarines.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Royal Navy's submersible ship nuclear AUKUS submarines will be operational from the late 2030s, replacing the current Astute Class.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Tranche 1 Typhoon aircraft are stored at RAF Shawbury.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
There are currently ten Tranche 1 Typhoon aircraft stored at RAF Shawbury.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of RAF Typhoon aircraft are Tranche (a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3 variants.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The number and percentage of RAF Typhoon aircraft broken down by Tranche is shown in the table below.
Tranche | Number of Aircraft | Percentage of Aircraft (1) |
Tranche 1 | 30 | 22 |
Tranche 2 | 67 | 49 |
Tranche 3 | 40 | 29 |
Total | 137 | 100 |
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated out of service date is for each of the Royal Navy's Type 23 frigates.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
I refer the right hon. Member to the response I provided to Question 7840 on 11 January 2024.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-01-05/7840
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether Tranche 1 Typhoon aircraft are fitted to carry Meteor air-to-air missiles.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The RAF's Tranche 1 Typhoon aircraft are not fitted to carry Meteor air-to-air missiles.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the (a) name, (b) rank upon leaving and (c) year of joining company of all former (i) Army, (ii) Royal Navy and (iii) Royal Air Force officers at one star level or above who have left the service to work for Boeing over the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
We can confirm that, under Business Appointment rules, no One or Two Star military officers have reported to the Ministry of Defence that they have taken or are planning to take up a job with Boeing during the past five years. Please note that this is a voluntary process and former officers may have taken up posts without informing the Department.
Three and Four Star military personnel are required to inform the Government Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) about the first job they intend to take after leaving the Armed Forces. This information is held by ACOBA and can be requested at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/advisory-committee-on-business-appointments.
The MOD started to monitor Three Star and Four Star Business Appointments from 2023-24. In the past year no officers at those grades have taken up a post with Boeing.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of when HMS Somerset will (a) complete her ongoing refit and (b) return to operational duty.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
HMS Somerset is not in refit; the ship is currently undertaking a period of planned survey and defect repair work.
The Ministry of Defence does not disclose future programmes or forward-looking availability forecasts in order to preserve the operational security of the Royal Navy's Fleet.
In response to details about the cost and location of HMS Somerset's last refit, I refer the right hon. Member to the answers I gave to you and the right hon. Member for North Durham (Kevan Jones) on 20 July 2023 to Questions 194161 and 194356.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost of refitting HMS Somerset was; who undertook the retrofitting work; and when the refit was (a) started and (b) completed.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
HMS Somerset is not in refit; the ship is currently undertaking a period of planned survey and defect repair work.
The Ministry of Defence does not disclose future programmes or forward-looking availability forecasts in order to preserve the operational security of the Royal Navy's Fleet.
In response to details about the cost and location of HMS Somerset's last refit, I refer the right hon. Member to the answers I gave to you and the right hon. Member for North Durham (Kevan Jones) on 20 July 2023 to Questions 194161 and 194356.