Tanzania
Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of benefits there are going to be to Tanzania from the deal to supply a military air traffic control system. [26045]
Dr. Moonie: Export licensing decisions are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary for Trade and Industry. The Ministry of Defence provides advice to the DTI, together with the other advisory Departments, as appropriate. Following the policy set out by previous Governments, the Government do not comment on individual export licence applications for reasons of commercial confidentiality. Details of export licensing decisions will continue to be published in the Government’s annual report on strategic export controls and will be subject to retrospective scrutiny by the all party Quadripartite Committee.
A400M/C130J
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the projected noise footprint of the A400M; and what is the noise footprint of the Hercules C130J. [26346]
Dr. Moonie: The A400M aircraft will meet all current international noise regulations, but exact noise characteristics will not be known until the aircraft’s development and flight tests have been completed. The C130J aircraft meets all relevant US Federal Aviation Authority civil noise regulations. The Ministry of Defence does not hold noise information on the C130J in the form requested. We expect the noise characteristics of the A400M and the C130J will be similar. But their overall noise impact should be less than that of the C130K aircraft they are replacing, because significantly greater usage of ground simulators for training will reduce the overall number of flights.
A400M
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the RAF will take delivery of the A400M; and if he will make a statement. [27165]
Dr. Moonie: The in-service date of the A400M, defined as acceptance into service of the seventh aircraft, is 2010. We expect delivery of the final (25th) aircraft to be in 2014.
Vehicles
Cyber Attacks
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are to set up a cyber-warfare unit in his Ministry. [26635]
Mr. Ingram: There are no plans to set up a cyber-warfare unit in the Ministry of Defence although structures already exist to co-ordinate the conduct of information operations which encompass existing military capabilities, such as those traditionally used for command and control warfare, as well as computer operations and emerging technologies.
Challenger 2
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to improve the global deployment capability of the Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank fleet. [27271]
Mr. Ingram: The lessons for the Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank (CR2) from Exercise Saif Sareea 2 will be fully evaluated, in the light of ongoing operational experience in a range of environments, before any decisions on changes to the global deployment capability of the CR2 are made.
Mr. Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK personnel work in the United States under the auspices of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement; and in which US facility they are working. [28254]
Dr. Moonie: There are four UK officials serving in the US under the auspices of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement (1958 MDA). All are located in the British Embassy, Washington DC. Their duties are to facilitate the conduct of bilateral business within the provisions of the MDA. In addition there are four staff on secondment from AWE Aldermaston in the US, to assist with the technical development of facilities of mutual interest. Two are stationed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, one is located at Sandia National Laboratory and one at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Mr. Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many exchange of information and visit reports have been generated as a