§ 9. Dr. Broughtonasked the Secretary of State for Air what plans he has for re-equipping Fighter Command with 1187 high performance aircraft already developed by our North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Allies, thus relieving the taxpayer of the cost of development of comparable replacement aircraft for Fighter Command.
§ Mr. SoamesAt the moment, we are re-equipping Fighter Command with Hunters and Javelins. Major development work on these aircraft is already complete. Certainly there is much to be gained from co-operation with our Allies in the field of research and development, but it would be a mistake to assume that the purchase or manufacture of aircraft developed by other countries would necessarily relieve us of any substantial expense.
§ Dr. BroughtonDoes not the Minister agree that, in order to avoid duplication within N.A.T.O., it would be better to re-equip Fighter Command, as replacements become necessary, with excellent high-performance aircraft of our Allies, and to concentrate our efforts on developing more advanced types of fighters?
§ Mr. SoamesThere are two major difficulties about re-equipping with aircraft from America. First, there is a considerable dollar expenditure involved; and second, fighter aircraft are only a part of the whole defence system, of which the control and reporting system is an equally important part. The control and reporting system in this country is quite different from that in the United States, and all our fighters are geared to our system and American fighters are geared to the American system. By that I do not mean to imply that we will never buy any aircraft from our Allies, but I am only pointing out that it is not necessarily as easy as may appear at first sight.