BRITISH-DESIGNED AIRCRAFT (FOREIGN MANUFACTURE). (Hansard, 30 June 1937)

§ 29. Mr. Garro Jones
asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether he will 1951 name the type of aircraft which is being manufactured in Belgium by the firm Avions Fairey; and what type, and horsepower, of engine has been exported from this country under open general licence to drive the same?

§ Lieut.-Colonel Muirhead
To my knowledge the only aircraft of British design being manufactured by Avions Fairey in Belgium is the Fairey Fox bomber. It is fitted with the Rolls Royce Kestrel II. S. (505 horse-power) engine. A Fantome fighter has been designed and is being manufactured by the Belgian company, and one of these machines is being purchased by the British Government. It is fitted with a French engine.

§ Mr. Garro Jones
Is there any control over the destination of the output of this factory to other countries?

§ Lieut.-Colonel Muirhead
There is no reason to believe that this factory would wish to operate against the interests of the British Government. There are commercial conditions which one arranges with a firm, as in this case. It may perhaps satisfy the hon. Member and the House if they realise that, as a fact, permission is not granted by the Air Ministry for the export of designs for manufacture in other countries in cases where we have any vital objections to these designs or the products of these designs being passed on to other countries.

§ Mr. Garro Jones
Would it not be well to make some specific restriction on the destination of the output of this factory?

§ Lieut.-Colonel Muirhead
As I have said, we entered into conditions with the Fairey factory when we gave permission for these designs to be manufactured in the Belgian factory, and there is no reason to believe that these conditions are not honourably fulfilled by the factory in question. I only gave the additional information for the benefit of the hon. Member and the House, to show that we have a second line of security.

§ Commander Bower
Is it not the case that this type of aircraft was actually put into service in this country in the year 1927, and is therefore completely obsolete?

§ Lieut.-Colonel Muirhead
It is not a type of aircraft to which we attach any importance.

§ 30. Mr. Garro Jones
asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air how many and which manufacturing companies on the Air Ministry approved list are supplying modern designs of aircraft to foreign countries through the medium of subsidiary or associated companies operating abroad; and what control is exercised by the Air Ministry over the transfer of designs and other information to such subsidiary companies and over the destination of their output, respectively?

§ Lieut.-Colonel Muirhead
In reply to the first part of the question, to my knowledge the only case is that of the Fairey Aviation Company with whom the Belgian company Avions Fairey is associated. As regards the second part, the consent of the Air Ministry has to be obtained before the transfer abroad of designs or information in respect of military aircraft in which the Air Minister is interested. As regards the last part, no formal control is exercised, but the relations of the Air Ministry and the parent firm are such as to ensure in practice that its foreign subsidiary does not act in a manner opposed to the policy of His Majesty's Government.