Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of the (a) purchase, (b) maintenance, (c) sustainment and (d) retrofitting of his Department's fleet of Airbus H135 helicopters in the last five years.

Under the terms of the UK Military Flying Training System contract, the Ministry of Defence pays for a service provision of 29 Airbus H135 (known as the Juno HT Mk1) and seven Airbus H145 (Jupiter HT Mk 1) helicopters as part of the Rotary Wing Flying Training requirement. This cost covers both helicopter types and includes the flying training service, the aircraft purchase, maintenance, sustainment and any modifications, therefore it is not possible to provide the specified level of detail.

With respect to the H135 helicopters procured for Project MATCHA, the cost of purchase was £35.28 million. These did not enter the In-Service phase and so there was no commitment to maintenance or sustainment.