Information on the numbers of aircraft in service and fit for purpose (FFP) is given in the following table. Target figures are not used for all aircraft types and are included only where appropriate. The figures shown are a snapshot of the position on 31 May 2009.
Aircraft type In service fleet Target FFP Actual FFP BAe 146 2 1 1 BAe 125 6 3 3 C-17 6 5 3 Dominie 9 — 7 Harrier 74 — 46 Hawk Tl 129 — 88 Hawk T2 8 — 6 Hercules CI30K 14 7 7 Hercules CI30J 24 15 14 Nimrod MR2 11 8 6 Nimrod R1 3 1 1 Sea King (SARF) 25 17 10 Sentinel 5 4 3 Sentry 7 5 4 Tornado F3 62 — 28 Tornado GR4 138 — 89 TriStar 9 6 4 Tucano 95 — 55 Typhoon 56 — 37 VC10 16 12 9 Vigilant 64 — 64 Viking 82 — 82
‘In service’ has been taken to mean the effective fleet, which covers all aircraft barring those which are redundant, declared as surplus or awaiting disposal. Serviceable aircraft available to the front line commands for operational and training purposes are termed fit for purpose (FFP). Aircraft which are undergoing major servicing or routine maintenance are within the depth fleet and are therefore not relevant to this question.
Additionally, in the process of answering this question an error in the TriStar ‘in-service’ fleet number has been identified in the written answer I provided to you on 23 April 2009, Official Report, column 812W. The answer I provided stated that there were eight TriStars ‘in-service’ but the correct answer should have stated there were nine. This error occurred as one aircraft has been undergoing a major cockpit upgrade and was mistakenly not included in the ‘in-service’ fleet number.