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Defence: Spending Review and Aircraft Carriers

My Lords, I add the condolences of these Benches to the families and friends of service personnel who have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. I thank the Minister for the Statement, which we welcome. An announcement about the aircraft carriers under the CSR has long been awaited. The Statement confirms, at long last, that this project will proceed. Many noble Lords will be familiar with those parts of the United Kingdom associated with naval shipyards and will know how enthusiastically this news will be received. I can vouch for the confidence boost this will bring to the defence industry skill base in Hampshire—where, as the Minister will know, my roots are to be found—particularly in the Royal Naval Dockyard and other facilities. It will be a boost not just to the shipyard in Portsmouth, where the presence of the naval base and its facilities results in some 17,000 people being employed and where tens of millions of pounds have been invested by the private sector over recent years, but to the entire sub-region. It is clear that there will also be a great deal of synergy for the carriers to be based at Portsmouth, close to the skilled workforce engaged in their construction and most able to maintain them to the highest standards. In the context of the Minister’s Answer on 9 July to my Written Questions HL4550 and HL4551 concerning the Government’s defence industrial strategy, I hope that the Minister can confirm that any plans for minimising the Portsmouth base can now be shelved. In that context, when will he announce the specific implications of the Statement for the skilled workforce in the region, who have invested their energy and commitment in the shipbuilding industry on the south coast, in many cases over their whole working lives? We welcome the announcement, not least because it is a vital component to the sustainability of the Government’s expeditionary concept; but there are concerns over the factors that may compromise the realisation of that policy. A major concern relates to the aircraft that will be available to accompany the carriers. I understand that naval experts have confirmed that the future aircraft carrier design will be greatly determined by the selection of aircraft to fly from the vessels. In that regard, I understand that the Ministry of Defence considered a wide range of options, including marine versions of the Eurofighter, the American F-18E, the French Rafale and an updated Harrier. From all these, they have selected the STOVL variant of the Joint Strike Fighter as the best option. It may be the best, but will it be available in the timescale for the completion of the aircraft carriers? That version of the JSF is not due to start test flights until 2008, and, with programme costs rising, entry into service has been pushed back from 2014 to 2017. Can the Minister provide some assurances that contingency plans are available so that our carriers will not be operating empty? There are also concerns that, while these aircraft will benefit from American ““stealth”” advanced technology, so far there appears to have been an embargo on the transfer of that technology to other parties. Can the Minister confirm that there is no prospect of political intervention from the United States that would prejudice the operational scope of the JSF once procured by the UK? I am advised that Britain’s Harrier Jump Jets are so busy in Afghanistan, or training, that our current carriers apparently sail without planes for about 80 per cent of the time, relying on allied aircraft flying from the ships to keep our crews in shape. Given that that situation may continue for some years, can the Minister confirm how it is intended to fill a potential gap in the availability of the JSF? Is it the intention to extend the service of the Harrier GR9 beyond 2019, and, if so, would that compromise or limit the potential capabilities of the future aircraft carriers? Will the Minister confirm how arrangements for alternative configurations for ski-jump or catapult-assisted flight decks constrain the aircraft that can operate from the carriers, and how that limits expeditionary options? How realistic is it to propose that these options can be changed within an acceptable operational timescale? Finally, I note that today the Government are also announcing that it is their intention to sell DARA’s rotary wing and components facility at Fleetlands, in Gosport, Hampshire. Is the Minister aware that, to my personal knowledge, the workforce provides highly specialised engineering skills associated with naval helicopters that are not feasibly transferable to other locations, nor readily replaceable, and that it would not be in the UK’s interests to dissipate?