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Navy: Military Aircraft

Volume 503: debated on Wednesday 6 January 2010

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Harrier GR9 aircraft are operated by the Naval Strike Wing; and how many are (a) operational and (b) in maintenance. (309142)

Naval Strike Wing routinely operates up to 12 aircraft from the Joint Force Harrier (JFH) Forward Available Fleet (FAF).

The FAF comprises aircraft which are serviceable and those which are short-term unserviceable. Short term unserviceable aircraft are undergoing minor works, forward maintenance or any other unforeseen rectification work that can arise on a day-to-day basis. Serviceable aircraft available to the front-line commands for operational and training purposes are termed available. These statistics are only collated at fleet level and cannot be provided for individual units within JFH.

The number of Harrier aircraft which are in the forward available fleet and available as at 18 December 2009 is provided in the following table:

Number

Forward Available Fleet

44

Available

42