§ Mr KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those development projects which have been written off by his Department in the last two years in each of the services; what will be the savings for each project cancelled; and how much development expenditure had been involved in each project until the date the projects were cancelled.
§ Mr. SainsburyIn the financial years 1986–87 and 1987–88 the following major projects which had entered full development were cancelled:
Title Service Date of cancellation Expenditure at cancellation £ million CACS4 Royal Navy 1987–88 1 28 SP70 Army 1986–87 88 Nimrod AEW Royal Air Force 1986–87 660 1 Expenditure on hardware only. Other expenditure is commercially confidential. Projects funded for full development are the preferred solution to approved defence requirements. Although a project may subsequently be cancelled, the underlying requirement will almost certainly remain and will need to be met by other means. This is the case in respect of all three projects listed. The question of savings in respect of these cancellations does not arise.