§ 2. Mr. Nick St. Aubyn (Guildford)If he will make a statement about the development of the Eurofighter Typhoon. [61338]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. John Spellar)The development of Eurofighter in conjunction with our partners from Germany, Italy and Spain is continuing to meet the planned delivery of the first production aircraft to the Royal Air Force in mid-2002. Seven development aircraft are flying and have completed more than 620 sorties. A number of notable milestones have been achieved, including supersonic flight, care-free handling, air-to-air refuelling and missile firings.
§ Mr. St. AubynGiven the changes in policy and personality since the last election, what guarantee can the Minister give the House that the export prospects of the Eurofighter have been unharmed and undiminished as a result of the actions of his Government and some of his colleagues?
§ Mr. SpellarWhat an extraordinary question, not least because it was this Government who took the most 2 important step to ensure that Eurofighter was a viable project—getting the agreement signed and by negotiating and discussing that with the previous German Government. We are involved in discussions—at ministerial level and at the level of officials and defence export sales organisations—with a number of other countries for the future prospects of this extremely good aircraft.
§ Mr. Menzies Campbell (North-East Fife)Is not the importance of Eurofighter not simply that it gives the Royal Air Force an outstanding aircraft, but that it illustrates eloquently the advantages of European co-operation in defence procurement? In view of the success of co-operation in defence procurement, is it not now logical to consider co-operation across defence as a whole? May we hear from the Minister a little more about the Government's proposals for greater co-operation in European defence?
§ Mr. SpellarThe hon. and learned Gentleman will have noted that there have been discussions and an initiative by the Government to try to ensure that Europe plays a greater role in NATO's defence. We must ensure that we are getting a better return across Europe for the expenditure that is made, by ensuring a greater degree of interoperability and the ability of NATO European forces to act in operations in which the United States is not involved.
Those discussions are taking place, and we welcome the hon. and learned Gentleman's support for them. They run in parallel with a greater degree of involvement in the harmonisation of defence procurement through OCCAR and also with initiatives such as those taken by the leaders of the main industrial countries in order to rationalise the European defence industry so that it can compete more effectively with the United States and co-operate more effectively with the new US defence giants.
§ Mr. Keith Simpson (Mid-Norfolk)The House will be pleased to hear from the Minister how well the Eurofighter Typhoon programme is coming on—the 3 initial hard work having been done, of course, by the previous Government. I am sure that hon. Members will want to know, as will our friends in British industry, whether the Eurofighter will be delivered on time, given the shortfall and overspend in the air equipment budget for the long-term costing in excess of £1 billion. Can the Minister confirm that there is such a shortfall? What impact is it likely to have on the delivery of the Eurofighter?
§ Mr. SpellarThe hon. Gentleman says that the previous Government put in hard work; they certainly made heavy weather of it, given the time that they took to get to the position that they reached. It was this Government who ordered Eurofighter. It is on schedule to be delivered in mid-2002. We do not anticipate any slippage in that programme.