§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether advice or assistance has been offered to the Malaysian Government on the construction of air and naval base facilities in that country since 1984.
§ Mr. AitkenYes.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what were the products exported to, and projects commenced in, Brunei under the United Kingdom-Brunei defence export sales agreement since 1984; and which were the lead British enterprises involved in each case.
§ Mr. AitkenIn 1989 a defence protocol agreement was signed between the Governments of the United Kingdom and Brunei. To date, there have been no purchases by Brunei as a result of this agreement.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what were the products exported to, and projects commenced in, Malaysia under the United Kingdom-Malaysia defence export sales agreement since 1984; and which were the lead British enterprises involved in each case.
§ Mr. AitkenA memorandum of understanding was not signed until September 1988. Under the terms of this MOU the Malaysian Government agreed to purchase various military equipments from the United Kingdom. The terms of the MOU cannot be released for reasons of commercial confidentiality, but since its signature contracts have been signed with a total value in excess of £1 billion.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what were the products exported to, and projects commenced in, Saudi Arabia under the Al Yamamah agreements; and which were the lead British enterprises involved in each case.
§ Mr. AitkenThe Al-Yamamah programme has included the provision to Saudi Arabia of Tornado aircraft, Hawk and PC-9 training aircraft, minehunters and major defence construction projects, together with associated equipment, infrastructure and extensive manpower and logistic support. An agreement for the supply of further Tornado aircraft was concluded this year. This is a Government-to-Government programme under which British Aerospace acts as prime contractor to the Ministry of Defence.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what were the products exported to, and projects commenced in, Jordan under the United Kingdom-Jordan defence export sales agreement with, in each case, the lead British enterprise involved, since 1984.
§ Mr. AitkenIt is not our practice to comment on detailed matters concerning individual defence exports. However, in this case the information concerned has been released to the Scott inquiry. Exceptionally, therefore, I can provide the information the hon. Gentleman requests, which is as follows:
296W
Project Lead British enterprise 1. 120mm and 105 ammunition Royal Ordnance 2. Mod Kit for APFSDS IMS 3. MBT spares VDS
Project Lead British enterprise 4. MBT spares Royal Ordnance 5. MBT spares David Brown vehicle transmissions 6. Training Simulator Invertron Sim Systems 7. Mine Plough. Dozer Blade Pearson Engineering 8. Giant Viper and Trailers Royal Ordnance 9. Trackway 30 and 60 Laird (Anglesey) 10. Trackway 60 Laird (Anglesey) 11. Trackway Vehicles Leyland 12. Medium Girder Bridge Fairey Engineering 13. C/Mine Flail vehicle Aardvark 14. Water Purification Eqpt Stelia-Meta Filters 15. Medical Equipment IMS 16. Land Rover Vehicles Land Rover 17. Land Rover/Fighting Veh Land Rover 18. Land Rover Vehicle Glover Webb 19. Armoured Land Rover Shorts 20. MRA 7 Tellurometer Tellumat 21. Laser Range Finder LP6 USI 22. Motorcycle Armstrong Motorcycles 23. Director Artillery Hall and Watts 24. Rapid Runway Repair Eqpt IMS 25. Generators Mirrless Blackstone 26. VHF Advanced Radios Marconi Secure Radio 27. EOD Equipment IMS 28. Fire Protection Eqpt Graviner 29. LAW 80 Hunting Engineering 30. Radar Marconi Radar 31. Radars Marconi Radar 32. Cranes Grove Coles 33. Workshop Eqpt Air-tec 34. Workshop Eqpt Kennedy Int. 35. FS Avionics update Smiths Industries 36. EW Eqpt (Gnd/Air) Racal 37. Cables BICC 38. Cables/Transmission Eqpt STC 39. Hawkeye Spares Hawkeye Systems 40. Hawkeye Support Eqpt Hawkeye Systems 41. Camouflage Nets Bridport Aviation 42. Camouflage Nets Bridport Aviation 43. Thermal Imager units Thorn EMI 44. Communications Eqpt IMS 45. HF/Misc Comms Eqpt Marconi Comms 46. Laser Training Eqpt Centronic 47. Engineering Eqpt IMS 48. Air Cargo Loader Avialift Products 49. Additional L/Rovers Land Rover 50. Tank Transporters Foden Trucks 51. Retreading Facility Avon Tyres 52. Additional L/Rovers Land Rover 53. A/C Combat Simulator British Aerospace 54. Fast Patrol Boats (30m) Vosper Thornycroft 55. Fast Patrol Boats (13m) RTK Marine 56. 20 and 30mm Ammunition BMARC 57. Oversight Services MOD UK 58. Engineering Consultancy Rendel, Palmer + Tritton 59. 17A2 GPMG IMS 60. Target Drones TTL A small proportion of the equipment contracted for under these arrangements has not been delivered.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the date of the settlement of the defence exports sales agreements with Jordan, Malaysia, Brunei and the Al Yamamah agreement with Saudi Arabia since 1984; which was the British agency responsible for administering these agreements; and what was the value of the total order placed for each agreement in both current and standard prices.
§ Mr. AitkenTwo memoranda of understanding covering the sale of defence equipment with Jordan have been agreed, the first on 19 September 1985 and the second 297W on 9 June 1987. Administration of the contracts placed under these arrangements was provided by International Military Services.
The former Prime Minister and the Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir, signed a memorandum of understanding in September 1988, and a defence protocol was signed between the Governments of the United Kingdom and Brunei in 1989. The original formal understanding and the memorandum of understanding between Her Majesty's Government and the Saudi Arabian Government concerning Project Al Yamamah were concluded, respectively, in 1985 and 1986. A further formal understanding was concluded in 1988. All these agreements are administered by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence.
The exact value of orders placed under such agreements is confidential to the Government concerned.