To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Prime Minister's oral answer of 21 May 2008, Official Report, column 315, how many tanks will be sent to Afghanistan; by when these tanks will be delivered into theatre; how they will be delivered into theatre; at what cost; and when the policy to deploy tanks in Afghanistan was approved. (208084)

The Secretary of State announced the deployment to Afghanistan of Warrior armoured fighting vehicles on 26 February 2007, Official Report, column 619 and they were deployed on schedule last autumn. We have no plans to deploy Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks to that theatre.

Each Warrior costs approximately £85,500 to ship to Afghanistan via commercial heavy air lift. I am withholding the number of Warrior deployed in Afghanistan, as this information would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.