§ 1. Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith (Wealden)When he expects the Bowman tactical communications system to be delivered to the armed services. [104533]
§ The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Geoffrey Hoon)We inherited not only a serious delay in the replacement for the Clansman radio, but an unsatisfactory mechanism for producing its replacement, the Bowman system.
We will therefore deliver Bowman incrementally, using smart procurement principles. As a result, initial deliveries of the personal role radio element of Bowman should now be possible from the end of 2001. We expect the main Bowman system to enter service in late 2003 or early 2004, subject to good performance by industry.
§ Sir Geoffrey Johnson SmithThe overall delay is a further slippage on top of what has happened in the past 2 and has added to a long list of slippages on such things as the beyond-visual-range anti-aircraft missile—BVRAAM—the heavy lift, and ASTOR—the airborne stand-off radar. Can the right hon. Gentleman assure the House with confidence that these slippages have nothing to do with pressure from the Chancellor of the Exchequer?
§ Mr. HoonI can, because the right hon. Gentleman has been a Member of the House for much longer than I have, and he has watched the previous Government's performance. He mentioned slippage in relation to Bowman. I remind him that, on that project, the Government inherited slippage of 75 months—more than six years. I know that the right hon. Gentleman looks at defence matters very seriously, and I am sure that, if he had looked at the matter in the round, he would have recognised that the problems of slippage in relation to that programme did not result largely from financial concerns but, in particular, from the need to ensure that British forces had the best equipment available to them, bearing in mind the significant technological changes over the period.