§ THE EARL OF KINNOULLMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is expected there will be any delay in the Concorde first flight date because of the recent crash in France of the Mirage IV bomber acting as a Concorde flight simulator.]
§ LORD BESWICKMy Lords, this unfortunate accident will not delay first flight and will only marginally effect the programme as a whole. The Mirage IV was used mainly to investigate flight test techniques for Concorde. It did not simulate Concorde itself; this is done on another aircraft, a Mirage III, which has been specially modified for the purpose.
§ THE EARL OF KINNOULLMy Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for his reply, I would ask him, in view of the fact that there has been no similar difficulty with the British projects, 638 whether he can give an assurance that the first flight date will be based on technical rather than political considerations? Could he also assure us that the British development will not be held up because of the recent French problem? Further, would the Government be prepared to request the two companies, if necessary, to revise their phase test programme, so allowing the British project to have first flight.
§ LORD BESWICKMy Lords, I am glad to assure the noble Earl that the issues here are technical and not political. But the delay in one part of the programme carried out in France inevitably delays the British programme too, and the arrangement that the French prototype flies first will stand.
§ THE EARL OF KINNOULLMy Lords, could the noble Lord advise the House what is now the first anticipated flight date of the French version?
§ LORD BESWICKMy Lords, I understand that the President of SudAviation stated that the 001 will fly from Toulouse at the beginning of January, and the British prototype should fly about six weeks after that date.
§ THE EARL OF KINNOULLMy Lords, in view of the fact that the flight date has been revised and put back (I believe that the first flight date was to be in September), could the noble Lord say whether this delay will cause an increase in the development costs and a delay in the "in service" date for the aircraft?
§ LORD BESWICKMy Lords, of course costs have gone up for a number of reasons. I think the truth of the matter is that the whole project has proved rather more complicated than was at first thought.