Lord Moonie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Moonie on 2016-06-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the Watchkeeper Programme to achieve Initial Operating Capability 2, previously expected to be achieved by April, and when they now expect Equipment Support Systems to be released to service.

Earl Howe

It is expected that the Watchkeeper programme will declare Initial Operating Capability 2 standard by July 2016. An initial set of release to service recommendations for the Watchkeeper system at Equipment Standard 2 should be provided by March 2017. This will provide sufficient clearance for the Army to fly the Watchkeeper system in that configuration and support delivery of Full Operating Capability by the target date of April 2017.