§ 13. Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York)When he expects the Typhoon to enter service. [135556]
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Mr. Adam Ingram)As announced in my right hon. Friend's written statement on 30 June, Typhoon achieved type acceptance on that day. Following type acceptance, individual aircraft were due to be accepted off-contract, the first of which was expected in October. That process has been interrupted by a problem with the landing gear, and as a precaution all Typhoon flying has temporarily been suspended while the problem is investigated and resolved. Progress is being made with the investigation and we hope to be able to resume flying and the entry-to-service process shortly.
§ Miss McIntoshCan the Minister confirm to the House that he will be able to sign off tranche 2 of the Typhoon programme by the December deadline, or is he going to tell us that the Typhoon will not enter into service at the prescribed time or to the prescribed budget? How does the right hon. Gentleman respond to newspaper reports that he is being asked to make a 20 per cent. cut in the budget?
§ Mr. IngramI thought that it was the Conservatives who were announcing 20 per cent. cuts across their programme. I also thought that their potential new leader—they may have changed again; I do not know whether they have kept this one—was indicating that he wishes to make massive cuts in programmes.
The United Kingdom is party to international arrangements under which we are set to order a total of 232 Typhoons. Of those, 55 aircraft are already on order, and we are working towards an order for the second tranche of 89. The third and final order is not due to be placed before 2007, and we shall keep our requirements under continual review. We are working towards meeting those deadlines.
§ Miss McIntoshOwing to the nature of that entirely inadequate response, I wish to give notice that I intend to apply for an Adjournment debate on the subject.