To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Cougar and Vector Pinzgauer armoured vehicles are being sent to (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan; and when they are expected to arrive. (100921)

On 24 July my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence announced we would procure around 100 Cougar vehicles and around 160 Vector.

On current plans half of the Mastiff (the UK variants of the Cougar) vehicles will deploy to Iraq, the remaining half will be split between Afghanistan and a training pool of vehicles retained in the United Kingdom. The first batch of Mastiff vehicles is on schedule to arrive in Iraq by the end of the year.

A majority of the Vector vehicles will be deployed to Afghanistan with a small number retained in the United Kingdom for training. The first batch of Vector vehicles is on schedule to arrive in Afghanistan in January 2007.

However, final decisions on the deployment of these vehicles are a matter for operational commanders.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) Challenger II main battle tanks, (b) Warrior armoured infantry fighting vehicles and (c) AS 90 guns are (i) in service and (ii) available for immediate deployment. (106715)

The numbers of Challenger 2, Warrior and AS90 in service and therefore available for immediate deployment are as follows:

“In service” is defined as equipment that is not in deep maintenance, repair, storage or training.