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WE177 Free-fall Bomb

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration led to the decision to withdraw the WE.177 in 1998; what was the original date for withdrawal; and on what date that decision was taken. [5165]

Mr. Arbuthnot: The decision to withdraw WE177 from service by the end of 1998, announced on 4 April 1995, Official Report, column 1097, was reached in the light of the good progress being made in providing Trident with a sub-strategic capability. This capability will be fully robust when Vigilant enters service in 1998 and there is no requirement for us to maintain two systems in the sub-strategic role after that point. We had previously assessed that WE177 had the potential to remain in service until the early years of the next century.

Mr. Gordon Foxley

Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement to the House when his Department has finished its investigations into the extent of the Gordon Foxley fraud case. [5654]

13 Dec 1995 : Column: 715

Mr. Arbuthnot: I refer the hon. Member to my predecessor's reply to the hon. Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Ms Anderson) of 23 November 1994, Official Report, columns 146-47.

Dr. Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the companies involved with the Gordon Foxley fraud case. [5655]

Mr. Arbuthnot: I refer the hon. Member to the evidence provided by my Department to the Committee of Public Accounts and reproduced at appendix 1 to the Committee's 46th report, which was published on 7 December 1995.

Drug Testing

Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in which Army regiments whose personnel have been tested for drug use there have been no failures. [3803]

Mr. Soames: The units with negative results from the drug testing programme are as follows:


13 Dec 1995 : Column: 716

Anti-tank Mines

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Carshalton of 29 November, Official Report, column 768, if the scatterable anti-tank mines will contain mechanisms that will cause (a) their location to be identified by the launching forces and (b) to cause them to self destruct when their battlefield use is over. [5526]

Mr. Arbuthnot: The vehicle launched scatterable anti-tank mine system will be able to record the location of minefields it lays, and the number of mines placed into those minefields. The mines will have a short timed life which will be programmed at launch and at the end of which they will self destruct.

Illegal Nuclear Material

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what communications he has had with his South African counterpart concerning the allegations made in the recent book, details of which have been sent to him, in respect of the illegal acquisition of weapons useable nuclear materials. [5650]

Mr. Arbuthnot: None. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence has received no information on this matter from the hon. Member.

Low Flying

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many low-flying sorties were booked in the United Kingdom low flying system in 1994 by non-United Kingdom based aircraft from each foreign air force. [5182]

Mr. Soames: The numbers of sorties booked in the United Kingdom low flying system in 1994 by non United Kingdom-based foreign aircraft were as follows:

Number
Australia2
Belgium31
Canada126
Denmark172
France192
Germany125
Greece14
Holland279
Italy292
New Zealand1
Norway10
Portugal8
Spain68
USA96
Total1,416


13 Dec 1995 : Column: 717

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many sorties in the United Kingdom low flying system by (a) Hercules aircraft and (b) helicopters were authorised in 1994; and how many of the Hercules sorties were flown by foreign air forces. [5180]

Mr. Soames: A total of 2,240 sorties by Hercules aircraft and 44,989 sorties by helicopters were authorised in the United Kingdom low flying system during 1994. 10 of the Hercules sorties were flown by non-United Kingdom-based foreign aircraft.

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many low-flying sorties were booked in the United Kingdom low flying system by United Kingdom-based US Air Force aircraft during 1994. [5181]

Mr. Soames: United Kingdom-based US Air Force aircraft were booked to fly 3,684 sorties in the United Kingdom low flying system during 1994.

Apache Helicopters

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the requirement for air weapons ranges as a result of the purchase of Apache helicopters for the Army. [5237]

Mr. Arbuthnot: The qualification of the weapons for Apache will be the responsibility of the prime contractor and the necessary trials will be carried out on US ranges. The need for the use of ranges for training purposes is still being addressed. At this time, it is likely that such range training will be mainly for the cannon and the CRV7 rocket system with much of the training for the main anti-armour weapon, the Hellfire missile, being done through simulation. The policy for proof testing of weapon stocks is currently being addressed with other Apache users to minimise the need for live missile firings.

Redundancies

Mr. Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving men and women in each of the armed forces have volunteered for redundancy during 1995; and what proportion of the total strength of each of the armed forces each of these numbers represents. [5038]

Mr. Soames: Applicants from Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel have totalled some 3,800 and from RAF personnel some 11,540 during 1995, representing respectively 7.7 per cent. and 16.7 per cent. of total strength at 1 October 1995. The number of applicants has exceeded the requirement by about 1,400 and 2,940 respectively.

13 Dec 1995 : Column: 718

Information on the total number of Army applicants is not available. Of the total applicants, the number selected is 234, which is 0.2 per cent. of the Army's strength at 1 October 1995. The Army does not now envisage making more than about 280 redundancies, compared with the 500 previously announced.

In each service some selection of non-applicants has been or will be necessary in order to preserve balance within particular ranks and specialisations.

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