Written question asked by John Glen (Conservative) on Monday, 11 October 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 14 October 2010. It was answered by Peter Luff (Conservative) on Monday, 18 October 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Military Aircraft: Repairs and Maintenance

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of refurbishment and maintenance of existing (a) Harrier and (b) Tornado capability in the next 10 years.

Answer: [holding answer 14 October 2010]: Anticipating the planned retirement from RAF service of the Tornado F3 in March 2011, the estimated logistic support costs of the Tornado GR4 aircraft over the next 10 years is £3.1 billion starting from April 2011. The estimated logistic support costs of the Harrier aircraft from the same date through to its planned out of service date of March 2018 is £0.7 billion. In addition, there are other support costs for all RAF aircraft which are not specifically attributable to either the Harrier or Tornado aircraft.All in service equipments are being considered as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, due to be published tomorrow.

Secondary information