HL Deb 28 February 1963 vol 247 cc186-7

3.7 p.m.

LORD KENNET

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether our two nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarines are capable of catching and destroying hostile nuclear-powered submarines.]

LORD CARRINGTON

Yes, my Lords, they will be. The second, H.M.S. "Valiant", and the third are not, of course, yet completed.

LORD KENNET

My Lords, with regard to what the noble Lord just said about the invulnerability of the Polaris system, have we any reason to suppose that our hunter-killer submarines will catch hostile rocket-launching submarines better than their hunter-killer submarines will catch our rocket-launching submarines?

LORD CARRINGTON

My Lords, the difficulty is that the noble Lord is confusing two things. The hunter-killer submarine's primary purpose is to protect seaborne forces.. If another submarine comes to attack the seaborne forces it has to come near them. The whole object of the Polaris submarine, on the other hand, it to hide, and that presents a completely different range of complexity.

LORD SHACKLETON

My Lords, is the noble Lord saying that the Polaris submarine is not capable of being detected, hunted and possibly killed? Is he really certain of that invulnerability for the years to come?

LORD CARRINGTON

My Lords, I did not say that. I said it was very much more difficult to find a submarine whose whole purpose is to hide than to find a submarine whose whole purpose is to attack seaborne forces.