Afghanistan: Combat Vehicles

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 3:17 pm on 8 May 2007.

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Photo of Lord Drayson Lord Drayson Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Defence Equipment and Support) 3:17, 8 May 2007

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Garden, highlights exactly the points on which we need to focus. The level of operations with which we are now coping puts pressure on equipment and means that equipment priorities for operations have consequences for the availability of equipment at home base. Dealing with these issues is about investing in more equipment where required. We are addressing the availability of spares. More importantly, the reforms we are putting in place and the way we manage equipment—for example, the whole-fleet management of combat vehicles—is at the heart of improving the availability of vehicles both for operations and back at base. These reform initiatives, which we are putting in place as a result of investment and the proactive approach to reform that comes from bringing together defence equipment and defence support, are at the heart of these issues.