The following table summarises the number of nuclear organisational baseline posts for Authorisees within the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the number of personnel (military, civilian or contractor) in these MOD posts as of 31 December 2014.

Figures have been rounded to 10; numbers ending in 5 are rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

A nuclear organisational baseline is a requirement of the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator. Some, but not all, baseline posts require Nuclear Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel (NSQEP), and not all NSQEP are employed in baseline posts.

None of the vacancies are in posts categorised as safety critical. The vacancies have not impaired the MOD’s ability to deliver the Defence Nuclear Programme safely.

The information requested is in the attached table.

The Forward Fleet comprises aircraft which are serviceable and those which are short-term unserviceable. Short-term unserviceable aircraft are undergoing minor works, forward maintenance or any other unforeseen rectification or technical inspection work that can arise on a day-to-day basis.

The Sustainment Fleet numbers represent those aircraft in our Depth Fleet, which comprises aircraft which are undergoing planned depth maintenance or upgrade programmes.

The numbers recorded as being in “Storage” are airworthy aircraft that are currently in temporary storage. These figures exclude those which are redundant, declared as surplus or awaiting disposal.

The following aircraft types are contractor owned and do not feature in the table. The contracts for these fleets are based on delivery of a specific number of flying hours and aircraft availability. The actual numbers of airframes and specific aircraft types used in the fulfilment of the contract are a matter for the contractor to decide, based on their commercial and technical judgement.

· Squirrel HT1/HT2

· S-61N

· A109 Power and A109E Power

· AW189 (selected by the future Falkland Islands Search & Rescue provider. It will be civil registered and operated by Industry).

· Bell 212

· Dauphin N2

· Griffin HT1

· Griffin HC2

· Grob 115 Tutor

· Grob 115 Heron is a sub-type of Grob Tutor.

The AW139 and some of the A109 aircraft are operated on the military register in support of some commercial activities.

The information requested is in the attached table.

The Forward Fleet comprises aircraft which are serviceable and those which are short-term unserviceable. Short-term unserviceable aircraft are undergoing minor works, forward maintenance or any other unforeseen rectification or technical inspection work that can arise on a day-to-day basis.

The Sustainment Fleet numbers represent those aircraft in our Depth Fleet, which comprises aircraft which are undergoing planned depth maintenance or upgrade programmes.

The numbers recorded as being in “Storage” are airworthy aircraft that are currently in temporary storage. These figures exclude those which are redundant, declared as surplus or awaiting disposal.

The following aircraft types are contractor owned and do not feature in the table. The contracts for these fleets are based on delivery of a specific number of flying hours and aircraft availability. The actual numbers of airframes and specific aircraft types used in the fulfilment of the contract are a matter for the contractor to decide, based on their commercial and technical judgement.

· Squirrel HT1/HT2

· S-61N

· A109 Power and A109E Power

· AW189 (selected by the future Falkland Islands Search & Rescue provider. It will be civil registered and operated by Industry).

· Bell 212

· Dauphin N2

· Griffin HT1

· Griffin HC2

· Grob 115 Tutor

· Grob 115 Heron is a sub-type of Grob Tutor.

The AW139 and some of the A109 aircraft are operated on the military register in support of some commercial activities.

The information requested is in the attached table.

The Forward Fleet comprises aircraft which are serviceable and those which are short-term unserviceable. Short-term unserviceable aircraft are undergoing minor works, forward maintenance or any other unforeseen rectification or technical inspection work that can arise on a day-to-day basis.

The Sustainment Fleet numbers represent those aircraft in our Depth Fleet, which comprises aircraft which are undergoing planned depth maintenance or upgrade programmes.

The numbers recorded as being in “Storage” are airworthy aircraft that are currently in temporary storage. These figures exclude those which are redundant, declared as surplus or awaiting disposal.

The following aircraft types are contractor owned and do not feature in the table. The contracts for these fleets are based on delivery of a specific number of flying hours and aircraft availability. The actual numbers of airframes and specific aircraft types used in the fulfilment of the contract are a matter for the contractor to decide, based on their commercial and technical judgement.

· Squirrel HT1/HT2

· S-61N

· A109 Power and A109E Power

· AW189 (selected by the future Falkland Islands Search & Rescue provider. It will be civil registered and operated by Industry).

· Bell 212

· Dauphin N2

· Griffin HT1

· Griffin HC2

· Grob 115 Tutor

· Grob 115 Heron is a sub-type of Grob Tutor.

The AW139 and some of the A109 aircraft are operated on the military register in support of some commercial activities.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 March 2015 to Question 227978.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=227978

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The Joint Strike Fighter programme has completed an extensive period of dedicated development flight test to both assess the impact of uncommanded wing drop (called transonic roll off) and mitigate its impact. The results of flight test have been to use a combination of control surface inputs from the leading edge flaps, trailing edge flaps and horizontal tails which have been applied differentially using software driven flight controls when the aircraft is operating at elevated angles of attack in the transonic flight condition.

It is extremely difficult to totally remove transonic roll from the transonic area of the flight regime, but these changes in the software control laws have lessened its severity and it has been assessed that they are now acceptable by the experienced flight crews that have flown with them. The programme leadership, which includes the UK Ministry of Defence, has concluded that they will allow the aircraft and pilots to execute the mission. The programme will continue to monitor and refine the flight control laws throughout the life of the aircraft as the aircraft's capability develops and if the target set and mission changes.

The Joint Strike Fighter programme has completed an extensive period of dedicated flight test to assess the impact of buffeting and transonic roll-off on both the helmet mounted display and gyroscopes in the inertial platforms. The conclusion of these flight tests, which have used changes in the flight control laws to mitigate both conditions throughout the flight envelope, is that the helmet mounted display and gyroscopic equipment meet the required performance specification and are fit for purpose to allow pilots to execute the mission. It is only in one area of the flight regime where buffet makes screen symbology difficult to read, and this is at the extremes of the envelope and extremely short lived as the aircraft manoeuvres, it is considered that they can be overcome by pilot training. These flight trials have included UK test pilots who have agreed with the conclusions of the US experts from government and industry.

The UK has received three F-35B aircraft in the low rate initial production phase. None of the production aircraft have achieved supersonic speeds to date. Although the F-35 design has been tested up to supersonic flight there is currently a flight restriction that prevents this as the aircraft are awaiting modification. There is currently no requirement for the aircraft to achieve supersonic flight in support of the UK's current phase of introduction to service which is focused initial operational test and training activity.

The F-35 design has yet to complete its lightning strike testing. Due to this incomplete testing, and the fact that design modifications are planned to meet required levels of performance, a flight restriction has been placed on the aircraft which prevents operation within 25 nautical miles of lightning conditions. This restriction is reduced when the aircraft is on the ground to 10 nautical miles and also uses additional protection measures such as shelters. These restrictions will be lifted once modifications have been embodied and testing completed. The modification and testing is due to be completed ahead of UK Introduction to Service in mid 2016.

Lightning II, Rivet Joint, Sentinel aircraft and Merlin helicopters operate a 270 volt electrical system.

There are no current or pending court proceedings in which the validity of the Tornado GR4 As Low As Reasonably Practicable statement would be decided.

A copy of the review is attached.

The information requested covers a number of different Ministry of Defence departments and contractors working at these locations. While each area holds records, these are held in different formats and to different criteria. As such, the information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

I have therefore commissioned officials to compile the best available statistics. I will write to the hon. Member with these before the House rises.

The information requested covers a number of different Ministry of Defence departments and contractors working at these locations. While each area holds records, these are held in different formats and to different criteria. As such, the information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

I have therefore commissioned officials to compile the best available statistics. I will write to the hon. Member with these before the House rises.

The information requested, as at 12 March 2015, is shown in the following table:

None of the existing vacancies is in a post categorised as safety critical and no ship would go to sea without the minimum required complement of suitably qualified and experienced personnel.

British Aerospace received no payments for work on the Nimrod MRA4 project in the financial year 2011-12. Programme costs in the financial year 2011-12 totalled some £0.6 million.

A joint UK-Australian study of the centre-wing box of the Hercules C-130J is in progress.

The drawdown of the C-130J fleet will begin when there are sufficient A400M Atlas in service to ensure the correct balance of capability and affordability within the Tactical Air Mobility Fleet. It is the policy of the Government not to comment on Special Forces matters.