To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times (a) Harrier GR7, (b) Harrier GR9, (c) Tornado GR4, (d) Tornado F3, (e) Typhoon and (f) Nimrod aircraft have been cannibalised in each year since 2003. (216253)

The removal of serviceable parts from one aircraft for use on another is a short-term, temporary measure to ensure that the maximum numbers of aircraft are available to the front line.

The number of these instances in each year since 2003 for the fleets requested is given in the following table. Harrier GR7 and Harrier GR9 cannibalisation statistics are not recorded separately, therefore the Harrier statistics are combined for both GR7 and GR9 marks. Typhoon cannibalisation statistics were not produced prior to 2005 due to operating under an industrial partnering agreement.

For Tornado F3, statistics are not available for RAF Leeming and RAF Coningsby in 2003 and 2004. No statistics are available in any year for the four aircraft Tornado F3 fleet based at RAF Mount Pleasant, therefore these have been excluded.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) Agusta 109A, (b) Agusta 109AM, (c) Apache Ah Mk1, (d) Gazelle AH1, (e) Lynx Mk7, (f) Lynx Mk9, (g) Lynx Mk3, (h) Lynx Mk8, (i) Merlin Mk1, (j) Sea King Mk4, (k) Sea King Mk5, (l) Sea King Mk6 (CR), (m) Sea King Mk7, (n) Chinook Mk2, (o) Chinook Mk2a, (p) Merlin Mk3, (q) Puma HC1, (r) Sea King Mk3 and (s) Sea King Mk3a there are in the helicopter fleet. (216972)

The numbers and types of helicopters currently in the helicopter fleet are shown in the following table.

The helicopter fleet has been taken to mean all aircraft in the Forward Fleet (at Front Line Commands for operational use and training) plus the Depth Fleet (including aircraft undergoing major maintenance, repair, modifications and trials). It excludes aircraft declared surplus and currently awaiting disposal.