§ Mr. Cookasked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the estimated total cost of the British participation in the Crusader exercise; and how many British citizens were killed or injured whilst on the exercise.
Mr. Hay hoeThe precise cost of Crusader 80 will not be known for some time, but it is estimated to be in the region of £8.5 million. One British Service man was killed during the exercise 296 were injured, five of them seriously. No British civilians were killed or injured.
§ Mr. Cookasked the Secretary of State for Defence what were the strategic assumptions used as the basis for the Crusader exercise, whether the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation defence proved adequate; and whether it was assumed that unconventional weapons systems of a chemical, biological or nuclear type were used by either side.
Mr. Hay hoeExercise Crusader 80 consisted of the home defence exercise Square Leg, the reinforcement and logistic support exercise Jog Trot, and the field training exercise in Germany Spearpoint. The assumptions used were designed to achieve the particular objectives of each part of the exercise in terms of practising and testing the effectiveness of plans and procedures rather than the adequacy of NATO's collective defence. Protection against chemical attack was practised during Exercise Spearpoint and a post-nuclear strike phase was included in Exercise Square Leg.