Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The FV430 series completed development in the early 1960s, and entered service in 1964. On present plans the vehicles will be progressively replaced between 2006-2018 by the Future Command and Liaison Vehicle, the Multi-Role Armoured Vehicle, and the Armoured Battlegroup Support Vehicle. The reliability of the power pack varies with environmental conditions and terrain. The vehicles achieve...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: A list of cancelled exercises and the reason for cancellation is set out in the tables. No exercises were curtailed or shortened. The lists do not include international exercises where UK forces were to have participated but which were either cancelled by other nations or there was reduced involvement but still UK participation. RN Exercises--Cancelled 1999 (i) (ii) Serial Name...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: We do not at present collate data by category of surgical operation. For Royal Hospital Haslar, which is a directly managed unit, the table below gives details of patients, both Service and civilian, discharged by specialty. For the Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit (MDHU) at Frimley Park, the table shows the number of Service patients treated--whether by Service consultants or host trust...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The MoD estimates that the cost of obtaining and testing a sample of urine from each veteran who participates in the testing proposed in the draft protocol to test for depleted uranium will be approximately £3,500, excluding Ministry of Defence overheads.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The supply of food to our Armed Forces is contracted out to "3663" (formerly trading as Booker Foodservice). The Ministry of Defence requires the company to seek the best price in the open market consistent with meeting out quality standard. We also require it specifically to give full consideration to British products, which we look to it to buy wherever they are competitive. Currently all...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Bowman will be installed in troop vehicles in time to meet the in-service date, which we expect to be in late 2003/early 2004.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: I assume the noble Lord is referring to the C17 aircraft. We have not yet reached any decisions on the type of aircraft that will be procured to fulfil our strategic lift requirement. We are continuing to assess the proposals for both our short-term and long-term airlift requirements and hope to be in a position to make a decision in the early part of this year.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: I refer the noble Lord to the reply I gave him on 10 January 2000 (Official Report, col. WA 72).
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: For the purposes of construction and use regulation 16, the FV430 is considered to be a "Tracked Heavy Motor Car, first use before 1st January 1968". The FV430 handbrake is not separate from the vehicle's service braking and steering system. The handbrake function is achieved by securing the tiller-actuated service braking and steering system in the ON position by means of a ratchet...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: IMPACT was the Industry and MoD Programme to Accelerate CALS (Continuous Acquisition and Life-Cycle Support) implementation Today. The purpose was to manage the introduction of electronic information exchange and sharing to support the acquisition process for defence equipment programmes. The IMPACT team comprised part-time members from both MoD and industry who were managed jointly by MoD...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The number of Landrovers issued to Ministry of Defence units for use in the United Kingdom is 11,261, of which 1,091 are left-hand drive and 10,170 right-hand drive vehicles. An additional 53 left-hand drive vehicles are held in storage as part of the attrition fleet and would not normally be issued to UK mainland units.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The total number of accidents that have involved MoD Landrovers in the United Kingdom between 1 January 1999 and 31 December 1999 was 1,199, of which 91 were left-hand drive and 1,108 right-hand drive vehicles. As at 24 February 2000, a total of 11,261 Landrovers were issued to mainland UK units, of which 10,170 were right-hand drive and 1,091 were left-hand drive.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Based on a planned utilisation rate of 10,000 miles per Landrover vehicle per year, for the period 1 January 1999 to 31 December 1999 there was one accident per every 93,920 miles travelled. This equates to one accident per every 119,890 miles travelled for left-hand drive vehicles and one accident for every 91,787 miles travelled for right-hand drive vehicles.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, I too thank the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Bramall, for introducing the debate and, indeed, all of your Lordships who have participated in our discussions. The central theme of the White Paper is modernisation. It sets out the progress that we have made in many areas, not least in delivering the Strategic Defence Review and in taking forward European defence. The process we have...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, the noble Baroness is extremely kind to point that out. I recognise, as does the House, the great support that she gives our Armed Forces. In a debate of this kind I believe that I am justified in defending the fact that this Government have been far more generous to the Armed Forces than were our predecessors. The White Paper describes some of the significant milestones that we...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, as the length of my reply to noble Lords will have already indicated, there is much to be discussed on the issues surrounding defence and much that I would like to say. I hope that the noble Lord will agree with me that the proper way to resolve the matter is through the usual channels.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency has considerable expertise in mine detection. We are investigating options for funding research and development of a low cost portable humanitarian mine detector, including the possibility of funding from the central Capital Modernisation Fund, as part of our drive to exploit the use of defence resources for wider public benefit. We expect to make a...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: In December 1999, the Department for International Development invited proposals from UK based institutions and individuals for new ways of detecting and clearing landmines under the Mine Action Research Programme. Bids are currently being assessed and an announcement on whether any can be supported is expected in April. Also, the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency is examining which mine...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The number of major exhibits owned by the National Army Museum which are on loan to the Museum of Army Transport is 135, of which 119 can be categorised as vehicles or equipments. At any one time up to 83 vehicles are on display, while the remainder are undergoing conservation or regular mechanical overhaul.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The vehicles owned by the National Army Museum which are displayed at the Museum of Army Transport are of historical significance as they document the history of Army transport from approximately 1900 to the present day and a number are unique survivors of their type.