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Armed Forces: Future Defence Policy

My Lords, I will certainly write to noble Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord King, requests. I will make a further short point. It is important to recognise that the United States military has a different view of the method of operations using helicopters. It has a concept of air cavalry that is not shared by our military. That is why there is a significant difference between the provision of helicopters in the American armed forces and in ours. However, as a number of military personnel, including the Chief of the Defence Staff, said, you can never have enough helicopters. We should recognise that everything that can be done is being done to increase the provision of helicopters in theatre, taking into account the challenges of the environment. I will be happy to write to noble Lords and to put a copy of the letter in the Library of the House, explaining the detail of those decisions.