To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the commitment to maintaining and deploying an eight-boat attack submarine fleet in the 2004 supplement to the 2003 Defence White Paper remains in place. (138524)

[holding answer 21 May 2007]: As set out in the 2004 "Future Capabilities" supplement to the 2003 White Paper, by late 2008 our attack submarine fleet will consist of eight boats. Thereafter, the existing Swiftsure and Trafalgar class submarines will be progressively replaced by the new and more capable Astute class.