§ 11. Mr. Lubbockasked the Minister of Aviation whether the decision to cancel the T188 aircraft programme was based on the failure of the aircraft to achieve its designed performance, or on a reassessment of need to investigate the use of steel in the construction of high-speed aircraft.
§ Mr. AmeryThe reasons for the termination of the T188 programme were given in answer to the hon. Member's Question of 2nd March.
§ Mr. LubbockWill the Minister confirm that the total cost of the T188 programme was £30 million? Can he say whether equally important information might not have been achieved by the use of our existing supersonic aircraft such as the Lightning, which flies at a speed greater than that achieved by the T188? Further, what plans do the Government have for continued research in hypersonic flight now that this programme has been discontinued?
§ Mr. AmeryThe hon. Member's figures are quite wrong. The sum spent 445 so far on the project is nothing like as much as £30 million. [HON MEMBERS: "What is it?"] More of the order of £20 million. A good deal of research is being carried out in the direction of hypersonic flight. We could not have got anything like the same experience from the Lightning. The metallurgy of the T188 has been very important and during its construction we have met a number of problems much greater than those involved in a conventional development programme. To expose these problems has been one of the main objects of our research.