Written question asked by Ben Wallace (Conservative) on Friday, 8 October 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 12 October 2010. It was answered by Liam Fox (Conservative) on Friday, 22 October 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Trident

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of extending the service life of a Vanguard Class submarine by (a) one year and (b) each of the subsequent four years after its original decommissioning date.

Answer: As the 2006 White Paper 'The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent' (Cm 6994) made clear, we will extend the life of the Vanguard Class beyond its original decommissioning date by five years to deliver a service life of 30 years. To achieve that five year extension will require three additional Long Overhaul Periods (LOPs). Planning is at an early stage but initial estimates suggest this will cost around £1.3 billion between 2014 and 2024.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 16776; 516 c883W
Session: 2010-12
Related items: Trident
Thursday, 4 November 2010
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Trident
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk