Written question asked by Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 7 December 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 December 2006. It was answered by Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour) on Tuesday, 19 December 2006 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Nuclear Submarines

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence why the planned service lives of HMS (a) Trafalgar, (b) Turbulent, (c) Tireless, (d) Talent and (e) Triumph were extended; and why the planned service lives of HMS (i) Torbay and (ii) Trenchant were reduced.

Answer: The White Paper ““Delivering Security in a Changing World, Future Capabilities””, published in July 2004, explained that our requirement for nuclear attack submarines could be met by a fleet of eight boats from 2008 onwards. The planned service lives of both the Swiftsure and Trafalgar class submarines have been adjusted accordingly, taking into account their material state and scheduled maintenance programmes, as well as the expected in-service dates of the new Astute class submarines.

Secondary information