Ministers will begin discussions with private sector companies soon about a contract worth more than £1bn to provide all the helicopters for Britain's search and rescue services, writes Stephen Fidler.
The contract, to run from 2012 for perhaps 25 or 30 years, will include support services and will increase private sector involvement in a field dominated by the military. But the Ministry of Defence said yesterday it needed to retain military capabilities in search and rescue so a significant proportion of the air crew would continue to be provided by the armed forces even after 2012.
