§ 8. Commander Courtneyasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether there is a Royal Air Force requirement after 1968 for an aircraft possessing the general operational characteristics of the United States F4J Phantom powered by the Rolls-Royce Spey engine.
§ The Minister of Defence for the Royal Air Force (Mr. Hugh Fraser)The primary rôle of the Phantom is as an interceptor. The Royal Air Force needs an aircraft of this type now and this will be met by the Lightning Mark 3 which is being introduced this year. This requirement will continue after 1968. For its strike rôle in close support of the Army, the Royal Air Force required an aircraft with VTOL capability and this will be provided by the P1154.
§ Commander CourtneyWhile thanking my hon. Friend for that reply, may I ask him if le is aware that the concept of a common aircraft has made some progress recently in the United States? Does he appreciate that both the United States Air Force and the United States Marine Corps, both of which have ground attack capabilities, have adopted the Phantom, and is it not rather a pity that the Royal Air Force requirement in this respect is so divergent from that of the other Services?
§ Mr. FraserThis is a fact of life, as my hon. and gallant Friend knows. We went into do question of a joint aircraft for the R.A F. and the Navy in the longer time-scale and we found that this could not, alas, be done. The point here is that in the shorter time-scale we need an aircraft now, and the Mark 3 Lightning will be coming into service this year.