Harrier Aircraft: Sales
Defence

Thomas Docherty (Dunfermline and West Fife, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence

(1) what the monetary value was of the sale of the (a) Harrier squadrons to the US Government and (b) spare parts of the Harrier fleet;

(2) to which departmental budget the revenue arising from the sale of the (a) Harrier squadrons and (b) Harriers' spare parts will be allocated.

Peter Luff (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Equipment, Support and Technology), Defence; Mid Worcestershire, Conservative)

holding answer 25 November 2011

As I announced in the House on 24 November 2011, Hansard, columns 485-86, the value of the sale of the final 72 Harrier aircraft frames and associated spare parts, which will be used as a major source of spares to support the US Marine Corps Harrier AV-8B fleet, is $180 million (around £110 million). The sale takes the total estimated receipts and savings to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to around £1 billion.

As agreed with HM Treasury as part of the spending review process, the revenue from the sale of Harrier assets will be retained by the MOD and reinvested by the Department in key priorities as part of the Defence budget, including the state of the art Carrier Varriant of the Joint Strike Fighter.