Battle Tank (Hansard, 13 July 1976)

§ 20. Mr. James Johnson
asked the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made in conjunction with the German Government towards an agreed formula for the next generation of main battle tank.

§ Mr. Robert C. Brown
We are making satisfactory progress in the studies that we are currently undertaking with the Federal Republic of Germany in order to define a common tank for the late 1980s.

§ Mr. Johnson
Will my hon. Friend go so far as to accept that it would make common sense for the allies in Western defence to have a similar concept of this type of machine or weapon? Can he forecast the numbers that might be made, because it could mean a lift in jobs for people in the engineering industry?

§ Mr. Brown
The current phase of the studies will take about another year and, therefore, we are not yet at the stage at which we can talk about numbers. It is generally acknowledged that towards the end of this century many countries will be renewing their tank fleets, and we therefore have a great opportunity of selling new tanks.

§ Mr. MacFarquhar
In view of the known differences between the British and the German Governments about the configuration of the proposed tanks, will my hon. Friend assure the House that if agreement is not reached Britain will be able to go ahead with its own tank? Will that tank include the armour that we have invented?

§ Mr. Brown
Assuming that the discussions come to nothing, we would have the ability to produce our own tank, and clearly we would have the ability to produce the new armour.

Mr. Geoffrey Finsburg
Will our tank be ready in time to supply the Canadian Army, which is seeking to re-equip its forces over the next two years?

§ Mr. Brown
That is another question. If the timescale is two years, I doubt whether we would be in that position.

§ Mr. Litterick
Does my hon. Friend agree that the concept of the tank as a battle weapon is dubious because it is 362 vulnerable to weapon systems which it cannot reach? Will he give an assurance that the Department is rigorously examining the concept of the main battle tank as a weapon system?

§ Mr. Brown
I do not believe that my hon. Friend has learned the lessons of the Yom Kippur war, otherwise he would realise that the vast majority of tanks that were killed were killed by tanks in the same way as the vast majority of aircraft killed were killed by aircraft.

§ Mr. Onslow
Does the Minister think that our chances of getting agreement with the German Government on this matter, or getting a working agreement to offset costs, are increased by the amount of unilateralism coming from below the Gangway on his side of the House?

§ Mr. Brown
In any discussions with us, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany realise that they are discussing whatever issue it may be with the Government of this country.