§ Mr. Hardyasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he is satisfied with the arrangements for the air defence of the United Kingdom.
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§ Mr. JohnYes. The air defence of the United Kingdom is undertaken by well-equipped forces which are kept up to date and effective. The programme of building hardened shelters for RAF aircraft in Germany is now nearly completed and we are putting in hand a similar programme at RAF bases in the United Kingdom. In addition, a number of Bloodhound surface-to-air missiles, which have become available from withdrawals from overseas, will be deplored in eastern England to supplement our air defences and a number of Rapier missiles will shortly be deployed in Scotland. These measures, together with the replacement of the Shackleton AEW aircraft and improvements in the ground-based warning and control systems planned over the next few years, reflect the priority given in the Defence Review to the security of the United Kingdom bases.