Written question asked by Mike Hancock (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 2 September 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 6 September 2011. It was answered by Peter Luff (Conservative) on Monday, 31 October 2011 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

HMS Protector

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the original estimated cost to the public purse was of equipping HMS Protector to fully operational status; and what recent estimate he has made of the cost of such equipping.

Answer: The contract for the lease of HMS Protector, worth £26 million over three years, also includes full contractor support and some fitting or refurbishment of equipment for use by the Royal Navy. In addition to this, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has estimated that a further £3.2 million would need to be spent to fit military task equipment such as survey boats and communications equipment.The £26 million figure will remain unchanged over the life of the initial contract and the MOD currently estimates that the fitting of military task equipment will cost £3.7 million.

Secondary information