Speeches

Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many operational defects (a) HMS Daring, (b) HMS Dauntless, (c) HMS Diamond, (d) HMS Dragon, (e) HMS Defender and (f) HMS Duncan have reported in each of the last six years.

Mr Philip Dunne

All complex systems suffer defects and require maintenance throughout their life, and warships are no exception. Operational Defects (OPDEFS) can vary in their categorisation and severity, covering minor ancillary components to major defects. The OPDEF process only applies to Ships in operational service, and I have therefore supplied the numbers for full years for Type 45 ships since their Commissioning.

TOTAL OPDEFS ON TYPE 45 SHIPS IN THE LAST SIX YEARS

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

HMS Daring

NA

186

184

278

163

156

HMS Dauntless

NA

NA

239

244

262

150

HMS Diamond

NA

NA

251

220

182

165

HMS Defender

NA

NA

209

224

202

209

HMS Dragon

NA

NA

260

268

235

124

HMS Duncan

NA

NA

NA

168

181

241

We would not release more detailed information related to these figures as this would allow deductions to be made about a ship’s capability and may affect operational security.