§ 11.21 a.m.
§ Lord ORR-EWINGMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
1797 The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent improvements have been made in Britain's air defences.
§ The MINISTER of STATE, MINISTRY of DEFENCE (Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal)My Lords, recent improvements have included the formation of a Rapier squadron for low level air defence at RAF Lossiemouth, the introduction of the new Skyflash air-to-air missile system and the formation of three Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment squadrons for the ground defence of Royal Air Force airfields. A programme of hardened aircraft shelter construction and other passive defences is now under way or in preparation at several major airfields in the United Kingdom. Further substantial improvements are planned for the 1980s, including the introduction of the Tornado F.2 and the Nimrod airborne early warning aircraft, and the comprehensive modernisation of the ground radar chain and the command and control system.
In addition, since taking office earlier this year we have announced several measures which will strengthen our defences in the shorter term. These include the formation of an additional Lightning squadron, the arming of the Hawk aircraft with the Sidewinder air-to-air missile and improvements to the Phantom's missile control system.
§ Lord ORR-EWINGMy Lords, is my noble friend aware that that Answer will give considerable satisfaction that a good start has been made in repairing deficiencies? But can he say what would be, in the summer of 1980, in a period of tension, the total number of Royal Air Force fighters available for the defence of the United Kingdom region?
§ Lord STRATHCONA AND MOUNT ROYALMy Lords, by next summer we shall have 104 fighter aircraft available in a period of tension, and a further 12 will be added to that number in 1982.
§ Lord LEATHERLANDMy Lords, does the noble Lord agree that if hostilities broke out 104 fighter aircraft could be shot down and destroyed in half an hour?
§ Lord STRATHCONA AND MOUNT ROYALMy Lords, I did not hear the last half of the noble Lord's question, but is he suggesting that this is an inadequate number of aircraft to defend this country?
§ Lord LEATHERLANDMy Lords, that is so.
§ Lord STRATHCONA AND MOUNT ROYALMy Lords, I do not think that we should be satisfied, but we are hopeful that we would get by.
§ Lord ORR-EWINGMy Lords, will my noble friend give an assurance to the House that no step will be taken which could further delay the modernisation of our ground radar defence network, and that every conceivable step will be taken to bring forward the date by which this will be modern and effective?
§ Lord STRATHCONA AND MOUNT ROYALMy Lords, the noble Lord is referring to an extremely important matter. The improvement programme for the United Kingdom air defence ground environment is a comprehensive modernisation plan for the ground radar chain, for the control centres and for the communications links to support our aircraft. This is a major programme which will be introduced over the next few years, but because of its scope and size it is not easy to speed up this programme significantly. However, we are looking at every possible device which we might use to achieve that objective.