§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Secretary of State for Defence if the re-equipment of the 48th TFW at RAF Lakenheath with Fl11 bombers will mean that it is to have a nuclear rôle whether Her Majesty's Government were consulted about this addition to United States forces; and whether nuclear weapons will be carried on patrol over East Anglia, stored in large numbers on the base, and transported by road and air over Great Britain.
§ Mr. MulleyThe deployment of F.111F aircraft of the Unted States Air Force to the United Kingdom represents no change in the Government's policy regarding the arrangements for the stationing of United States' forces in this country. It is an up-dating of an existing deployment by a broadly similar number of more modern aircraft performing the same basic r rôle of tactical fighter bomber as the F-4D Phantom aircraft which are returning to the USA. As usual, Her Majesty's Government were fully consulted about this exchange. As a general practice, whether any particular aircraft carry nuclear weapons at any particular time is not a matter that Her Majesty's Government are prepared to confirm or deny.