4·5-inch Naval Guns

HC Deb 01 May 1968 vol 763 c1089

13. Mr. Wall

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether 4.5-inch naval guns will be adapated for rocket-assisted shells.

The Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the Royal Navy (Mr. Maurice Foley)

There is no such intention at the present moment.

Mr. Wall

Is it not a fact that experiments in America show that rocket assistance has increased the range by 30 per cent., and are not most of our ships still armed with the 4.5-inch gun?

Mr. Foley

Development in this field is not yet sufficiently advanced to justify this adaptation. We are following developments elsewhere, and they are constantly under consideration.