asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the impact on capability of reducing aircrew availability on the Sentry AWACS aircraft; and what annual cost saving this will achieve. [HL5408]

There is no reduction planned in aircrew availability for Sentry AWACS aircraft. Financial provision for aircrew has been reprofiled to reflect our current estimate of when we will be able to increase aircrew availability beyond current levels. Meanwhile the financial provision for this capability has been reduced by the amounts shown in the table below. There has been no impact on defence capability as a result of this change.

Figures in the table have been rounded to the nearest £0.1 million: