Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of support costs for the Nimrod MRA4 in each financial year from 2009 to 2020.
Available expenditure information on the Nimrod MRA4 aircraft programme is provided below:
Financial Year | £ million |
Pre 1996-97(1) | 5 |
1996-97 | 72 |
1997-98 | 78 |
1998-99(2) | 451 |
1999-2000 | 192 |
2000-01 | 307 |
2001-02(3) | 58 |
2002-03 | 251 |
2003-04 | 444 |
2004-05 | 414 |
2005-06 | 304 |
2006-07 | 380 |
2007-08 | 308 |
2008-09 | 278 |
2009-10 | 310 |
2010-11(4) | 87 |
Notes:
(1) Total cost of the assessment phase as at 31 March 1996. Earlier data is no longer available.
(2) Accruals accounting introduced to Ministry of Defence accounts.
(3) The variance between 2001-02 and 2002-03 in part reflects an accruals adjustment.
(4) As at 31 December 2010.
In addition, costs of £0.5 million were incurred in disposing of Nimrod MRA4 airframes, against a corresponding receipt of £1 million.
Available financial information has not identified payments relating to the programme after 20 October 2012.
Information on payments made to BAE Systems in respect of work undertaken on the Nimrod MRA4 programme is no longer centrally held and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I am withholding details of costs associated with the cancellation of the Nimrod MRA4 programme as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice commercial interests.
The Nimrod MRA4 support solution was in the assessment phase at the time the programme was cancelled. At that time, the approved cost of the support solution was £146 million. Estimated support costs for each year from 2009 to 2020 are no longer centrally held and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.