Tag: Angus Robertson

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel are taking part in the Seedcorn initiative; what the location is of each such person; and with what equipment such personnel are training.

    Anna Soubry

    As announced in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review the UK retains Seedcorn Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) capability with personnel embeded in MPA capabilities of our closest allies. The number and location of personnel and equipment are as follows:

    Location

    No of Seedcorn Personnel

    Aircraft

    Canada

    Royal Canadian Air Force Greenwood

    6

    CP-140 Aurora

    New Zealand

    Royal New Zealand Air Force Base Whenuapai

    4

    P-3K Orion/P-3K2 Orion

    Australia

    Royal Australian Air Force base Edinburgh

    2

    AP-3C Orion

    United States

    Naval Air Station Patuxent River

    9

    P-8 Poseidon

    1 qualified on RQ-21A Blackjack UAV

    4 are scheduled to train on the MQ-4C Triton during June-August 2014

    United States

    Naval Air Station Jacksonville

    11

    P-8 Poseidon

    “

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many high-temperature concrete vertical landing pads will be constructed to accommodate the Joint Strike Fighter; where they will be located; and what estimate he has made of their cost.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    On current plans there will be three high-temperature concrete vertical landing pads constructed to accommodate the Joint Strike Fighter. These landing pads will be located at RAF Marham and the estimated cost is in the region of £7.5 million. This figure will be refined once planning for this matter progresses.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when HMS Montrose will take over the Fleet Ready Escort task; and what ship it will replace in that role.

    Mr Mark Francois

    HMS Montrose was previously deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean. She returned to the UK for a period of planned maintenance and post-deployment leave before conducting a short port visit in London and then participating in a NATO Exercise.

    Royal Navy ships are programmed in accordance with our operational requirements, but for security reasons we do not discuss specific future operational tasking.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many current suitably qualified and experienced personnel positions are (a) required and (b) vacant in (i) Type 23 and (ii) Type 45 ship crews.

    Anna Soubry

    The information requested, as at 1 May 2014, is shown in the table:

    Required Positions Vacant Positions
    Type 23 2,060 180
    Type 45 1.010 80

    Note: All figures are rounded in accordance with the Defence Statistics rounding policy. All numbers over 100 are rounded to the nearest 10 with numbers ending in 5 rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid bias. Numbers under 100 are rounded to the nearest 5.

    None of the existing vacancies is in a post categorised as safety critical and no ship would go to sea without the minimum required complement of suitably qualified and experienced personnel.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library copies of agreements with the French government to (a) undertake joint research at the Atomic Weapons Establishment Orion and Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique Laser Megajoule, (b) allow use of hydrodynamics research facility at the Atomic Weapons Establishment and (c) peer review technical and scientific data underpinning nuclear warhead certification.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The agreements with the French Government to undertake joint research described are detailed in Article 1 of the TEUTATES Treaty 2010. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/228571/7975.pdf

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the installation of an EASAMS Collision Warning System in Tornado aircraft was not completed following the successful trials of the system in 1995 and 1996.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    This technical demonstrator programme was aimed at evaluating the compatibility of the collision warning system concept in the fast jet environment. Technical demonstrator programmes are used to test the technical feasibility of new technology projects, often using experimental or conceptual technologies. They are not expected to produce equipment capable of being brought into service with the Armed Forces.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-03-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assets he has designated for search and rescue under section 2.5 of Annex 12 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation; and where each such asset is located.

    Stephen Hammond

    I refer the Hon. Member to my answer of 2 September 2013 [Official Report, Column 153W].

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions a foreign-requested aircraft has provided search and rescue assistance over UK territorial waters in each of the last three years; what role each such aircraft played; what the location of each incident was; and whether each occurrence was in response to obligations under Annex 12 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation.

    Mr Mark Francois

    I refer the hon. Member to the answers previously given to him on 22 November 2013 (Official Report, column 1046W) and 27 March 2012 (Official Report, column 1054W).

    Between 4 November 2013 and 5 June 2014 there have been five occasions where an Irish helicopter was requested by the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre to provide search and rescue assistance over UK territorial waters. Four of these were in Northern Ireland. These were in response to obligations under Annex 12 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation.
    Details of the five incidents are shown below:

    Date Aircraft Aircraft Role Location
    15 November 2013 Irish Coastguard Helicopter Ditched Aircraft Enniskillen, Northern Ireland
    12 February 2014 Irish Coastguard Helicopter Topcover for lifeboat Mull of Kintyre, Scotland
    16 February 2014 Irish Coastguard Helicopter Individual with knee injury Binnian, Northern Ireland
    21 March 2014 Irish Coastguard Helicopter Individual with hip injury Rathlin island, Northern Ireland
    16 May 2014 Irish Coastguard Helicopter Capsized individual Enniskillin, Northern Ireland

    Detailed statistics on UK military SAR activity can be found on the Government website at the following link:
    http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/release-calendar/index.html?newquery=*&uday=0&umonth=0&uyear=0&title=Military+Search+and+Rescue+Monthly+Statistic&pagetype=calendar-entry&lday=&lmonth=&lyear=

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times aircraft have been intercepted by Quick Reaction Alert flights by (a) intercepted aircraft type and (b) location in each of the last three years.

    Mr Mark Francois

    The number of days on which Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) aircraft have launched to intercept aircraft in each of the last three years is contained in the following table. Not every launch resulted in an interception as some incidents were resolved prior to interception.

    Year No. of days QRA was launched
    2011 20
    2012 21
    2013 17

    I am withholding full details of the number of interceptions, aircraft type and locations as deterrence is a principal function of QRA and QRA is in turn an integral part of the air defence of the UK. The disclosure of information that might compromise the QRA deterrent capability would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the planned out-of-service date for HMS Illustrious has been brought forward; what the new date is; and who took the decision to change that date.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    As first announced on 15 December 2010 (Official Report, column 102WS), HMS ILLUSTRIOUS will retire from service this year. No final decision has been made on the specific date.

    HMS OCEAN will shortly finish her extensive refit and take over as the Royal Navy’s Landing Platform Helicopter ship.