§ Mr. Woodallasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will furnish the costs, at current prices of (a) the Challenger main battle tank, fully equipped, (b) the S870 self-propelled Howitzer, (c) the 81mm mortar and (d) 8 tonne vehicles, various types;
(2) if he will furnish the costs at current prices, of (a) an airborne very high frequency radio for Air Training Corps use, (b) a high frequency radio receiver, (c) the Sidewinder air-to-air missile, (d) the helicopter-borne antitank missile, and (e) the battery of tracked Rapier;
(3) if he will furnish the costs, at current prices, of the following small arms (a) light support weapons and (b) personal weapons and of 81mm mortar round, personal weapon round, and SP70 Howitzer round ammunition, respectively;
(4) if he will furnish the costs, at current prices, of the following projects (a) Challenger main battle tank, initial order, (b) sonar, action information and fire control systems for patrol submarines, (c) Blowpipe air defence missile improvement programme (d) weapon handling and launching system for a patrol submarine, (e) the JP233 project and (f) ALARM missile programme;
(5) if he will furnish the costs, at current prices of (a) Hawk advanced trainer aircraft, (b) Nimrod aircraft, (c) Tornado F2 aircraft, (d) Tornado GR1 aircraft, (e) Chinook helicopter, (f) EH 101 helicopter, (g) Lynx helicopters, army version and (h) Puma helicopter;
(6) if he will furnish the costs, at current prices, of (a) a nuclear-powered fleet submarine, (b) a type 22 frigate, (c) a Hunt class mine counter-measures vessel, (d) a Castle class offshore patrol vessel and (e) a Sting Ray lightweight torpedo.
§ Mr. LeeAs the hon. Member will be aware from an answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State374W for Defence Procurement on 10 July 1984 at column 451, commercial confidentiality considerations, including the need to avoid prejudicing contractual negotiations, limit the amount of cost information that can be disclosed. The information in the following table can, however, be supplied. All figures are at 1984–85 outturn prices.
Unit Production Cost Challenger MBT (fully equipped) £1.5 million Airborne VHF radio for ATC use £1,150 High frequency radio receiver £52,000 Helicopter borne anti-tank missile (TOW) £6,000 Personal weapon round (SA 80 ball round) 22 pence Nimrod MR Mk 2 £12 million Chinook helicopter £9 million Lynx for the army £3 million Puma helicopter £2.5 million Nuclear-powered fleet submarine £200 million Type 22 frigate £140 million Hunt class mine countermeasure vessel £38 million Castle class offshore patrol vessel No such vessel is on order Total Estimated Programme Cost Challenger MBT (initial cost) Programme costs in the region of £350 million JP 233 Of the order of £700 million ALARM £300 million Torando F2 and GRI £9,743 million EH 101 £1,380 million Hawk trainer aircraft £306 million