To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which vehicles were purchased to replace the 14 Mamba vehicles referred to in his answer of 8 November 2006 to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) on armoured personnel carriers. (104482)

The Mamba was used by Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams for specialist tasks such as EOD reconnaissance, rescue and recovery and route proving.

The TEMPEST vehicle from Supacat Ltd was selected to replace it in the same role as a Mine Protected Vehicle (MPV). The name TEMPEST is no longer used and the vehicle is now known in UK service simply as the MPV.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what effect he expects the purchase of Vector and Cougar armoured vehicles to have on procurement of the Future Rapid Effect System project; and if he will make a statement. (101905)

[holding answer 29 November 2006]: The purchase of the Vector and Cougar armoured vehicles will have no direct effect on the Future Rapid Effect System programme. Vector and Cougar are light armoured vehicles that have been purchased to meet an urgent requirement on current operations.

FRES will deliver a fleet of medium-weight wheeled and tracked armoured vehicles with higher levels of strategic deployability, survivability and lethality than lighter armoured vehicles can provide.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how much the purchase of 14 Mamba Troop vehicles cost; and when the purchase was made; (101906)

[holding answer 29 November 2006]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 November 2006, Official Report, column 1546W, to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock).

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Panther armoured vehicles are planned to be delivered to the British Army; what role they will play; and how many are expected to be sent to (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan. (102630)

[holding answer 29 November 2006]: An order has been placed for 401 Panther command and liaison vehicles. Panther will replace a variety of vehicles operating in the command and liaison role. The deployment of this vehicle on operations will depend on judgments by the Permanent Joint Headquarters.