To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what account his Department takes of life cycle costs in the procurement of armoured vehicles; and if he will make a statement. (269812)

Predicted whole life costs for a project are taken into account during the approvals system which is part of the investment appraisal, and the MOD’s standard equipment procurement procedure, undertaken when a decision is made between investment options. For procurements made under the Urgent Operational Requirements (UOR) procedures, the delivery speed of life-saving equipment is the absolute priority and the capability may be so specific that we would not expect to retain it beyond the operation. In these cases, while support costs are considered for UORs, predicted whole life costs are generally not calculated as a pre-cursor to the procurement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armoured vehicles he expects his Department to procure in the next 10 years; what estimate he has made of the cost of such procurements of each type; and which companies have been contracted to provide such vehicles to date. (269813)

Over the next 10 years we expect to procure the following armoured and partially armoured (protected) vehicles:

We also expect to procure a number of Future Rapid Effect System vehicles. These vehicles have not yet reached their Main Gate investment decision point when the quantities and cost will be set and the companies to deliver the vehicles will be selected.