§ Mr. Cyril D. Townsendasked the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent on the Trident system to date; and how much is to be spent over the next two years.
§ Mr. NottExpenditure on the Trident system up to the end of financial year 1981–82 will total just over £31 million. Currently, expenditure over the next two years is estimated to be in the region of £250 million.
§ Mr. Speedasked the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the Royal Navy's equipment budget will be taken by the Trident programme in its peak years of expenditure.
§ Mr. NottI explained to my hon. Friend in the House on 11 March 1982—[Vol. 20, c. 983–84]—how the Trident programme will be funded within the defence budget. Figure 6 in the open government document that I published last week illustrates the impact of Trident on the total defence budget and on the equipment budget. The naval equipment programme will depend on the allocation of resources within the equipment budget as a whole in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This will be decided in due course in the light of the required balance of defence capabilities.
§ Mr. Speedasked the Secretary of State for Defence if the £7,500 million cost of the Trident II programme includes all necessary investment at Rosyth dockyard, Faslane, Coulport and the approaches thereto and at Vickers shipyard at Barrow.
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§ Mr. NottThe estimnated cost of the Trident II programme includes all the necessary investment resulting from the decision to acquire the new system.