§ 2. Mr. McMasterasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will now formulate a requirement for a strategic jet transport aircraft to meet the needs of Her Majesty's forces after 1970.
§ Mr. ThorneycroftRequirements in this field are already fully provided for until the mid-seventies. Requirements for the latter half of the seventies have not yet been submitted for my approval. I am, however, in the early stages of considering with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Aviation what kind of strategic aircraft we might need beyond the next decade.
§ Mr. McMasterIs my right hon. Friend aware that the Minister of Aviation told me last week that, in certain cases, it takes up to 10 years between the formulation of a requirement and the plane coming into service? Is my right hon. Friend satisfied that we have enough transport aircraft now on order to meet our requirements in the mid-1970s and beyond?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftWe have aircraft planned or on order for the mid-1970s, but we are considering various possibilities beyond that period.
§ Mr. CroninIs it not the case that 13 years of Conservative Government have not produced for Transport Command a single strategic freighter, if one excludes the limited cargo-carrying capacity of passenger aircraft? Is the Government's death-bed repentance to be effective?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftThe Belfast is surely a strategic freighter.
§ Mr. McMasterIs my right hon. Friend aware that the Belfast was successfully demonstrated at Northolt today and that three will be flying by the Farnborough Air Show?
§ Mr. MulleyIs the right hon. Gentleman satisfied with the very modest 421 planned development of Transport Command ever the next 10 years and that the increasing need for flexibility and mobility will be met by this development?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftThe development is not modest. It includes the Belfast, the VC. 10 and the OR.351. This is a vast and necessarily expensive programme that is well in train.