PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS
House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 01 Sep 2009
Defence: Research
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what cash allocations his Department has made for defence research for each of the next two years; and if he will make a statement. [288608]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The current planning assumption is that the science
innovation and technology budget will have available approximately £439 million in 2010-11. This compares with £544 million in 2009-10 when calculated on the same basis. Departmental expenditure limits have not yet been set for the years beyond 2010-11.
Departmental Budgets
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department’s science innovation and technology budget is for 2010-11. [284525]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The current planning assumption is that the SIT budget will have available approximately £439 million in 2010-11. This compares with £544 million in 2009-10 when calculated on the same basis. Departmental expenditure limits have not yet been set for the years beyond 2010-11.
Trident
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost of
conventional forces protecting Trident was in 2008-09. [288764]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: We do not routinely calculate the operating cost of specific committed or contingent force elements in support of the deterrent, and such estimates are necessarily illustrative. The answer, the right hon. Des Browne, as Defence Secretary, gave to the hon. Member on 8 March 2007, Official Report, column 2131W, estimated the annual operating costs of committed conventional force elements to be around £25-30 million. We have not prepared a more recent estimate as to do so would incur disproportionate costs.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent on Trident II; and what his Department’s estimate is of how much it would cost to order (a) three and (b) four boats to replace Trident I. [287200]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The current Trident II D5 missile is expected to remain in service until 2042. No expenditure has been incurred on a successor to the Trident II D5 missile. As set out in the 2006 White Paper, we estimate that the procurement costs of the replacement for the current Vanguard class submarines will be between £11-14 billion at 2006-07 prices. The total spent on the replacement submarine and associated propulsion system since the beginning of April 2007 to the end of
June 2009 is some £250 million. Work is ongoing to assess whether continuous at sea deterrence could be achieved with a three boat fleet, and at what cost.
Unmanned Air Vehicles
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what studies his
Department has undertaken into the skill levels and qualifications required to fly unmanned aerial vehicles. [288198]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The UK’s armed forces currently operate a range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The Medium Altitude Long Endurance Reaper System is flown by fully qualified pilots following their completion of conversion training. Smaller systems, such as Hermes 450 and Desert Hawk, do not require the full range of pilot skills and can therefore be operated by non-pilots who have received specialist UAV training only. Several UK studies have been undertaken into current and future requirements for skill levels and qualifications for UAV operators as our capabilities in this area have developed. These include studies to define the skills and competences required to underpin operator selection and training and to derive formal standards for training programmes. This work is ongoing.
USA: Arms Trade
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent progress has been made on the Defence Technology Transfer Treaty between the US and UK; and if he will make a statement. [288606]
Mr. Quentin Davies: Her Majesty’s Government continue to discuss the Defence Trade Cooperatio