The Defence Committee has issued a call for evidence for its
new inquiry into future
aviation capabilities.
The call for evidence follows on from the Committee’s recent
inquiry on aviation procurement, which found that cuts set out in
the 2021 Defence Command Paper will create a combat air
capability gap which will persist into the 2030s.
The new inquiry will consider several aspects of future aviation
capability, including the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), the
New Medium Helicopter procurement, advanced jet trainer,
munitions and defence industrial strategy. Those interested are
invited to submit evidence on any of the subjects below by Monday
23 October.
Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP):
- What will be the key challenges in delivering GCAP’s aim to
deliver a 6 generation combat aircraft by 2035, and what should
the MoD be doing now to address them?
- What lessons can be learnt from previous large multilateral
defence programmes such as Typhoon?
- How can the MoD ensure that GCAP attracts and retains
political and public support over the next decade?
- With full-scale production of the new aircraft not expected
to be underway until the 2030s, how can the MoD and industry
ensure that an appropriately skilled workforce is retained in the
interim?
Rotary wing
- What are the reasons for, and the implications of, delays to
the New Medium Lift helicopter procurement?
- Is planned investment across the rotary wing fleet
appropriately balanced to deliver the capabilities required?
Advanced jet trainer
- With the Hawk T2 expected to leave service in 2040, and
synthetic training becoming increasingly prevalent, how should
the MoD approach the procurement of its next advanced jet
trainer?
Munitions
- What is your assessment of the MoD’s vision, strategy and
planning of future airborne weapons systems across the combat
fleet?
- Is the air mobility fleet suitably equipped for the transport
of such weapons?
Defence industrial strategy
- How can the MoD ensure that these procurements best
contribute to a sustainable and thriving defence industrial base,
by building and maintaining appropriately skilled, effective and
active defence manufacturing teams?
- How should exportability be built into these programmes from
the outset, and what should the MoD, and the Government more
broadly, be doing to maximise their export potential?
Form of written evidence:
Submissions should be no longer than 3,000 words. The main body
of any submission should use numbered paragraphs. Each submission
should contain:
- a short summary, perhaps in bullet
point form;
- a brief introduction about the
person or organisation submitting evidence, for example
explaining their area of expertise or experience;
- any factual information from which
the Committee might be able to draw conclusions, or which could
be put to other witnesses;
- any recommendations for action by
the Government or others which the submitter would like the
Committee to consider for inclusion in its report to the House.
Submissions should be in malleable format such as MS Word (not
PDFs) with no use of colour or logos. Submissions should
be arranged in numbered paragraphs.
Guidance on submitting written evidence and data protection
information is available here: Guidance on submitting
written evidence.
Deadline for submissions
The Committee is asking for initial written evidence to be
submitted through the Committee’s web portal by 23
October 2023.
It is recommended that all submitters familiarise themselves with
the Guidance on giving
evidence to a Select Committee of the House of Commons which
outlines particulars of word count, format, document size, and
content restrictions.
Diversity
We encourage members of underrepresented groups to submit written
evidence. We aim to have diverse panels of Select Committee
witnesses and ask organisations to bear this in mind when we ask
them to choose a representative. We are currently monitoring the
diversity of our witnesses.
