§ 5. Mr. Leslie Huckfieldasked the Minister of State for Defence what is the total cost of the Linesman system of air defence radar to date.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the Royal Air Force (Lord Lambton)The cost to 31st March, 1972, including payments due but not yet made, was£94 million.
§ Mr. HuckfieldI am grateful for that information, but is it not time that we looked round to see what a few other countries are doing in this regard, particularly the United States, and examined whether the cost of fitting some of their software to the Plessey radar might be 669 cheaper? Does the hon. Gentleman think that the job which Linesman is trying to do can be done at all?
§ Lord LambtonObviously we look everywhere possible to see whether we can bring down costs. It is not possible for me to give a full answer to the second part of the supplementary question.