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Written question asked by Gerald Howarth (Conservative) on Thursday, 3 December 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 7 December 2009. It was answered by Lord Davies of Stamford (Labour) on Wednesday, 9 December 2009 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Armed Forces: Equipment

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) required and (b) actual number is of (i) items of night vision equipment, (ii) pieces of body armour and (iii) small arms for pre-deployment training.
Answer

The current required and actual number of night vision equipment, body armour and small arms specifically held for pre-deployment training are provided in the following table.

Requirement Holdings
Night vision systems
Helmet Mounted Night Vision System 7,168 4,477
Light Weight Thermal Image sights (VIPIR 2 and 2+) 971 762
Body armour
Osprey 2,901 4,697
Osprey Assault 6,146 0
Small arms
Light Machine Gun 922 922
Shotgun 198 70
Sig Pistol 3,007 1,162

Where there is a shortfall against the pre-deployment training requirement, this reflects the newness of equipment, or the growth in forces deployed. We are making further progress in closing the gap and should meet the full requirement for each equipment type identified (except the Sig Pistol) by July 2010, and in some cases earlier than July. All pistols (some 25,000) are due to be replaced as part of the Soldier System Lethality programme.Equipment availability for pre-deployment training is carefully managed and prioritised to ensure that operators are safe, qualified and competent on the equipment prior to deployment.In addition to the equipment allocated specifically for pre-deployment training, further equipment is held by units themselves; these items are not included in the figures as they are not specifically held for pre-deployment training.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
502 c362-3W; 305023
Session
2009-10
Subjects
Defence equipment
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk