§ 5. Mr. Wallasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the development of British surface-to-surface missiles for the Royal Navy and the Army.
§ Mr. HealeyI am reviewing the content of the defence programme as a whole and until the review is complete I am not prepared to make any statement on this subject.
§ Mr. WallIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Royal Navy has no surface-to-surface missiles while the Army operates the obsolete Corporal, the Germans have the Sergeant, and the Americans have no fewer than 37 surface-to-surface missiles? Will he look at this carefully?
§ Mr. HealeyI am very well aware of these facts. One of the things that I noticed when I took office was that my predecessor on cancelling Blue Water, after an expenditure of £32 million, left 6 the British Army totally dependent upon the United States for ground-to-ground missiles.
§ Commander CourtneyCan the right hon. Gentleman confirm that in the absence of a surface-to-surface guided missile for the Royal Navy the main arm of the Fleet remains the fixed-wing carrier-borne aircraft?
§ Mr. HealeyI think that is the case.