To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many hours downtime for maintenance or due to fatigue the (a) Lynx, (b) Merlin and (c) Sea King helicopters had during 2006 in (i) Iraq and (ii) Afghanistan; and what percentage of hours flown in that period that figure represents. (137621)

Information on the number of hours downtime for maintenance or due to fatigue for Lynx, Merlin and Sea King helicopters deployed during 2006 in Iraq and Afghanistan is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Lynx helicopters have been taken out of service (a) to update counter measures, (b) to fit electronic counter measures and (c) to fit infra red jammers in the last five years. (137377)

No Lynx helicopters have been taken out of front-line service to be modified. They have been modified during scheduled maintenance activities, or during planned modifications programmes that work around the deployment and training requirements.

We do not comment in detail about the defensive systems fitted to our aircraft in order to safeguard our personnel serving on operations.