19 May 1999 : Column: 343
Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 19 May 1999
DEFENCE
Eurofighter
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reports he has received from the manufacturers of Eurofighter concerning production delays; and if he will make a statement. [82524]
Mr. George Robertson: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Robert Walmsley to Mr. Mike Hancock, dated 19 May 1999:
Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many meetings he held with members and officials of the US Administration during his visit to the United States of America on 16 to 18 April; with whom he held the meetings and at what locations. [84314]
Mr. George Robertson:
During my visit to the US from 16 to 18 April 1999 my only formal meeting was with Mr. William Cohen, the US Secretary for Defence. This meeting took place in the Marriott Hotel, Portland, Maine, on the morning of Saturday 17 April.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the Scalp EG missile is being built in the UK; and what agreements have been made on the United Kingdom's share of the work. [84516]
Mr. Spellar:
This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.
19 May 1999 : Column: 344
Letter from Robert Walmsley to Mr. Mike Hancock, dated 19 May 1999:
Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel are based at the Defence Clothing and Textiles Agency in Colchester; and how many staff have agreed to be transferred to Caversfield. [84648]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
There are 148 personnel currently based at the Defence Clothing and Textiles Agency's site at Colchester. A staff preference exercise is currently being conducted which, when completed, will indicate the number of staff who wish to transfer to Caversfield.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received concerning the use of depleted uranium weapons in operation Allied Force against Yugoslavia. [84624]
Mr. George Robertson:
I have received a number of representations concerning the use of depleted uranium munitions in operation Allied Force from Members of Parliament, including from my hon. Friend himself, and from some members of the public.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if cockpit voice recorders will be fitted to the first six RAF Chinook helicopters by 30 June as set out in his answer of 16 November 1998, Official Report, columns 325-26. [84703]
Mr. Spellar
[holding answer 18 May 1999]: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.
19 May 1999 : Column: 345
Letter from Robert Walmsley to Mr. Robert Key, dated 19 May 1999:
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the withdrawal of British army units from Germany. [84972]
Mr. George Robertson:
I stressed in the Strategic Defence Review that the forward basing of ground forces in Germany would remain a key aspect of British defence policy. 1(UK) Armoured Division, with its three brigades, will continue to be stationed in Germany, together with United Kingdom Support Command (Germany) and the Headquarters of the Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) with its signals brigades. But the withdrawal of some units to the United Kingdom will mean that we have a reduced requirement for barracks accommodation and can plan to return to the German authorities at least one Army barracks. The Army has now concluded its studies of its barracks requirement, and I am in a position to give a clearer indication of the likely impact, and timescale, of these moves, which are, to an extent, dependent on the timescale within which refurbished accommodation becomes available in the United Kingdom.
The process of withdrawal will be phased and we do not expect the full withdrawal of the about 2,500 British troops that I announced to be completed until 2005 at the earliest. However, barracks are now available in the UK to accommodate 1st Royal Tank Regiment, currently located at Paderborn.
The plan is therefore to withdraw this unit by August of this year. To make best use of the barracks vacated in Germany, and to meet our operational requirements more effectively, we intend to move 35 Engineer Regiment, currently based in Hameln, to Paderborn. Internal moves within Hameln will be initiated, which will enable the eventual handback of Bindon Barracks to the Federal authorities by 2002.
Our plans for the later phases of the withdrawal are much less certain at the moment and many details have yet to be worked out. Our current assumptions are that there will be two further phases, the first involving the surrender of a barracks in Osnabruck following the withdrawal of an armoured regiment from there. We do not expect this second phase to commence before the year 2001, or to be complete until some time after that.
19 May 1999 : Column: 346
I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence about reports he has received from Eurofighter manufacturers concerning production delays. The matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency.
Contracts for the production of the first tranche of 148 Eurofighter aircraft, including 55 for the Royal Air Force, were signed in September 1998. Since then industry has not submitted any reports concerning delays to the contracted production schedule. Prior to contract signature, however, industry advised that to maintain the delivery schedule it would be necessary to introduce lower functionality in early aircraft, with a series of increments leading to the full standard. Nations identified functionality standards that would satisfy the initial training requirement, and these were reflected in the contract. The availability of such aircraft will allow conversion training of pilots to go ahead as planned. All aircraft will be upgraded to the final standard within the agreed prices.
I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence which asked what percentage of the Scalp EG missile is being built in the UK; and what agreements have been made on the United Kingdom's share of the work. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency.
Scalp EG is being procured by the French government for its own armed forces; it is essentially the same weapon as Storm Shadow, which we are procuring for the UK's forces, although there are certain unique requirements specific to each country. National procurements are being pursued under separate contracts: the UK's contract for Storm Shadow was placed with Matra BAe Dynamics UK Ltd in February 1997 and the French government's contract for Scalp EG was placed with Matra BAe Dynamics France S.A. in December 1997. The two parts of Matra BAe Dynamics act as separate prime contractors and hold the individual Storm Shadow and Scalp EG contracts for their respective national governments.
Although a Memorandum of Understanding exists between the UK and France covering co-operation in and co-ordination on technical matters of these missile programmes, this does not allow UK access to details of the French Industries' commercial arrangements and commitments. I am therefore unable to provide the information you seek.
I am sorry I cannot be more helpful.
I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the fitting of cockpit voice recorders to RAF Chinook helicopters. The matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief executive of the Defence Procurement Agency.
Unfortunately, continuing technical difficulties associated with the development of the Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS), of which the cockpit voice recorders form an integral part, and with the integration of this equipment onto the Chinook Mk2/2a helicopters, have resulted in further slippage to the programme of which you were advised previously The difficulties have been addressed jointly by Smiths Industries, the prime contractor, and the Defence Procurement Agency. The project has passed key major milestones this year, including Design Acceptance and ground testing, and flight trials will commence shortly. We now plan on having the first six helicopters fitted by late November this year. The plan to fit the remainder of the Chinook fleet by the end of 2000, remains as previously advised.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |