APPENDIX 1
Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the Ministry of Defence (PAC 00-01/170)
Questions 59 and 60. RBL755
1. The BL755 weapon was introduced into
service in the early 1970s. It contains 147 bomblets but, to prevent
excessive dispersal of the bomblets, it must be dropped from low
level. In 1992 a requirement to deploy BL755 from medium level
was initiated and the weapons were subsequently designated as
RBL755. The modification consisted of a radar proximity fuse which
delayed the release of the bomblets until the weapon had reached
low level. Due to the particular operating circumstances of Kosovo
the Department assessed that the balance of BL755 and RBL755 in
the inventory needed to be modified and an urgent operational
requirement to convert some existing BL755s to additional RBL755s
was issued. Only RBL755 bombs were dropped during the Kosovo campaign.
The manufacturer assesses the failure rate of the individual bomblets
as 5 per cent.
Question 87. Cost of replacing Depleted Uranium
(DU) ammunition for the Vulcan Phalanx system with tungsten ammunition.
2. The tungsten rounds for the Vulcan Phalanx
system are about 40 per cent cheaper than the DU rounds, although
this is an estimate of the relative costs of the two rounds because
the Department has not bought DU ammunition for the Vulcan Phalanx
since 1992.
Question 172. Cost of delays on the Sea Dart IR
Fuse Update
3. The contract placed for the Sea Dart
IR Fuse was firm priced (ie an agreed price which is not subject
to variation for inflation) for development and fixed priced (ie
an agreed price subject to variation to take account of inflationary
movements) for production. When the contract was placed the price
for development was £13.1 million and that for production
was £15.9 million. The difference between these costs and
the total estimated cost of £43 million is primarily attributable
to the estimated effect of Variation of Price based upon input
indices (labour and materials) on the production element (£10
million) and Defence Evaluation and Research Agency costs (£3
million).
4. When main production activities commence
a revised price will be negotiated; these negotiations will also
cover the need for agreement on where any additional costs may
fall. These discussions may not conclude until the latter part
of 2001, and only then will we be able to state what the delay
in the new fuse entering service will have cost the MoD.
Ministry of Defence
30 January 2001
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