HC Deb 21 November 1967 vol 754 cc316-7W
Mr. Brian Parkyn

asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what was the amount of work carried out, as a percentage of total expenditure, between defence and civilian projects by the Underwater Weapons Establishment during each of the past three years;

(2) what was the amount of work carried out, as a percentage of total expenditure, between defence and civilian projects by the Military Engineering Experimental Establishment during each of the past three years.

Mr. Mason

Civil applications of the work done at defence research and development establishments are much wider than the amount of money earmarked for specific civilian projects would suggest, and it is not meaningful to assess the civilian element of the work in percentage terms. From A.U.W.E., for example, advice has been given to other research bodies on fish-finding sonars, on ultra-sonics as an aid to medical diagnosis, on oceanographic instrumentation, and on undersea physics; while much of M.E.X.E.'s programme is of civil interest, and the establishment is to be appointed one of the official test centres for freight containers.