Source · Select Committees · Defence Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Rejected
Paragraph: 58
Set out NATO discussions and revisit Wedgetail fleet reduction to five aircraft
Recommendation
Of all of the Defence Command Paper’s cuts, the decision to reduce the UK’s Wedgetail E-7 fleet from five to three aircraft stands out as the most perverse, with the fleet cut by 40% for an acquisition saving of just 12%. Moreover, our witnesses told us that three aircraft will simply not be sufficient to meet the UK’s commitment to NATO and our own sovereign needs. The MoD has committed almost £2 billion for a fleet of aircraft that, due to its reduced size, will be unable to meet the basic capability requirement. The MoD should set out in its response to this report what discussions it has had with NATO regarding the UK’s Airborne Early Warning & Control obligations to the Alliance. The decision to reduce the Wedgetail fleet must be revisited at the earliest possible opportunity with a renewed commitment to a fleet of at least five aircraft.
Government Response Summary
The government rejects revisiting the decision to reduce the Wedgetail fleet to three aircraft, stating the reduction saves £700 million and meets key requirements despite acknowledging increased risk. It confirms ongoing engagement with NATO via NAPMO to update them on the programme's developments.
Paragraph Reference:
58
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
The Wedgetail programme replaces the E-3D Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft, and will offer a step change in capability, providing 5th generation airborne surveillance, command and control that is essential to counter current and expected threats. The UK has committed c.£2 billion to the procurement of Wedgetail with a further £2 billion investment expected to sustain the capability out to 2042, a high proportion of which will be returned to the UK economy through UK-based suppliers. us to save more than £700 million, while still meeting both our key user requirements and Defence operational outputs with a smaller fleet. We accept there is some increased risk against the UK’s ability to provide sovereign commitments and the UK’s contribution to NATO, but these were factored into the overall decision. As with all capability, the Government will keep decisions on the appropriate size of our force under review, in line with the threats we face. The UK remains engaged with NATO via the regular series of meetings under the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Programme Management Organisation (NAPMO), where UK representatives update NATO on the latest developments of the UK Wedgetail programme. The priority for the UK Wedgetail programme is to enable the UK to conduct NATO operations at the earliest opportunity once it has entered service.