Written Question·Ministry of Defence·UIN 182507
Boeing E-7: Procurement
Tabled: 25 April 2023
Answered: 4 May 2023
Question
Mr Mark Francois
Conservative — Rayleigh and Wickford
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department is contractually obliged to pay for all five MESA radars originally ordered for the UK E-7 Wedgetail programme.
Answer
James CartlidgeAt the time of the Integrated Review decision to reduce the scope of the UK E-7 Wedgetail programme from five to three aircraft, the MESA (Multi-Role Electronically Scanned Array) radars for aircraft four and five were in production. It was decided that production and delivery of all five MESA radars would continue as planned, allowing a saving/offset of initial procurement and sustainment spares from the overall programme cost.