hulahoop7
6th Feb 2008, 11:07
From the Def Committee minutes:
General Sir Kevin O'Donoghue: I do not know. We have the advantage that we have not signed up for x aircraft but to be part of the programme. We can buy these aircraft off the production line as we need them. Unlike most aircraft where to keep the production line open you buy a certain number and then stick some into a shed somewhere because they are the attrition reserve and so on, here because the United States is buying so many we can pull off aircraft from the production line as we need them, so there is more flexibility in that respect.
[...]
Q173 Richard Younger-Ross: But you do not know whether or not we can afford 36?
Mr Gould: We can certainly afford that number, but there would be an additional number for training, attrition and so forth.
Q174 Chairman: The original figure was 150?
General Sir Kevin O'Donoghue: Yes.
Q175 Chairman: That is cloud cuckoo land, is it not?
General Sir Kevin O'Donoghue: I do not think we need to make a decision on that. Because the production line will run on we can buy the number we need, which presumably will be the 36 to man one aircraft carrier plus the training and so on and buy others as and when we need them. I am not sure we need to decide on a number now.
Could the initial buy be as little as 50? With attrition and replacements only bought in small batches? Surely that should make a huge dent in the £9bn projected purchase cost? Or at least spread it over a much longer period.
General Sir Kevin O'Donoghue: I do not know. We have the advantage that we have not signed up for x aircraft but to be part of the programme. We can buy these aircraft off the production line as we need them. Unlike most aircraft where to keep the production line open you buy a certain number and then stick some into a shed somewhere because they are the attrition reserve and so on, here because the United States is buying so many we can pull off aircraft from the production line as we need them, so there is more flexibility in that respect.
[...]
Q173 Richard Younger-Ross: But you do not know whether or not we can afford 36?
Mr Gould: We can certainly afford that number, but there would be an additional number for training, attrition and so forth.
Q174 Chairman: The original figure was 150?
General Sir Kevin O'Donoghue: Yes.
Q175 Chairman: That is cloud cuckoo land, is it not?
General Sir Kevin O'Donoghue: I do not think we need to make a decision on that. Because the production line will run on we can buy the number we need, which presumably will be the 36 to man one aircraft carrier plus the training and so on and buy others as and when we need them. I am not sure we need to decide on a number now.
Could the initial buy be as little as 50? With attrition and replacements only bought in small batches? Surely that should make a huge dent in the £9bn projected purchase cost? Or at least spread it over a much longer period.