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Iraq: Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Volume 475: debated on Monday 28 April 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much it costs to transport one (a) Mastiff and (b) Bulldog armoured vehicle from the UK to (i) Iraq and (ii) Afghanistan. (201021)

The cost of transporting heavy equipment varies considerably according to the method employed. The means of transportation is decided on a number of criteria, primarily when the equipment is ready for transport and its required delivery date.

For Iraq the approximate cost of transporting one Mastiff vehicle by commercial heavy lift aircraft is £41,600.

For Afghanistan the approximate cost of transporting one Mastiff vehicle by commercial heavy lift aircraft is £55,000.

Bulldog deploy to theatre using military shipping. Using a standard calculation for operating costs including the costs of fuel, port handling charges and Suez Transit (and excluding fixed costs such as wages and cost of ownership) the cost of moving one Bulldog is £717. This figure assumes that the vessel carried a full load of cargo which was the case for both of the shipping consignments in this case.