Military Aircraft: Helicopters

Dr. Fox
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military and what percentage of each helicopter type in the (a) Army Air Corps, (b) Royal Navy and (c) RAF are (i) in service and (ii) fit for purpose.

Mr. Quentin Davies
The numbers and types of helicopters used by the Army Air Corps, Fleet Air Arm and Royal Air Force which are in service, in the forward fleet and considered fit for purpose are detailed in the following table. "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. Aircraft in the "forward fleet" are those that are available to the front line command for operational and training purposes, including those that are classed as "short-term unserviceable": aircraft undergoing scheduled depth maintenance, or planned routine fleet maintenance are excluded. Fit for purpose aircraft are those in the forward fleet considered capable of carrying out their planned missions on a given date.

The following figures represent averages taken for May 2009.

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|Helicopter Type/Mark|Departmental fleet|Effective fleet|In-Service|Forward fleet|Fit for purpose|Fit for purpose|
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|Royal Navy          |                  |               |          |             |               |               |
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|Lynx Mk3/Mk8        |68                |61             |90        |26           |26             |100            |
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|Sea King Mk5        |15                |15             |100       |7            |7              |100            |
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|Sea King Mk7        |13                |13             |100       |6            |6              |100            |
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|Sea King Mk4/6      |42                |42             |100       |129          |16             |55             |
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|Merlin Mk1          |42                |42             |100       |20           |14             |70             |
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|                    |                  |               |          |             |               |               |
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|Army Air Corps      |                  |               |          |             |               |               |
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|Augusta 109         |4                 |4              |100       |2            |3              |150            |
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|Apache              |67                |67             |100       |44           |16             |36             |
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|Gazelle             |91                |42             |46        |22           |20             |91             |
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|Lynx Mk7/9          |108               |94             |87        |53           |31             |58             |
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|                    |                  |               |          |             |               |               |
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|Royal Air Force     |                  |               |          |             |               |               |
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|Merlin Mk3/Mk3a     |28                |28             |100       |19           |11             |58             |
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|Puma                |43                |34             |79        |25           |17             |68             |
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|Chinook Mk2/2a      |40                |40             |100       |29           |18             |62             |
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|Sea King Mk3/3a     |25                |25             |100       |117          |10             |59             |
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