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Helicopters

Volume 457: debated on Monday 19 February 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effectiveness of (i) Bell Griffin HAR2 and (ii) Apache helicopters in recovering individual personnel from a battlefield. (118886)

Since battlefield recovery scenarios vary considerably, local commanders instigate recovery operations within the framework of established doctrine using those assets available to them and judged best suited to the circumstances. We have not undertaken research on the effectiveness of using either of these helicopters in recovering personnel from a battlefield, though we have benefited from US experience in using the Apache for personnel recovery. We do not operate the Bell Griffin in the operational environment.