§ 19. Mr. ConnartyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the most up-to-date estimates of the capital cost of completing the Trident missile programme and maintaining it thereafter.
§ Mr. AitkenAt the end of December 1993, some £7 billion had been spent on the Trident programme out of a total of some £9.9 billion, with future estimated capital expenditure expressed at current economic conditions. Operating costs over the lifetime of Trident are expected to amount to some £6 billion on the same basis. The latter figure includes the costs of manpower, submarine refits, transport, stores, an appropriate element of the costs of the Clyde submarine base and the atomic weapons establishment and the eventual decommissioning of the submarines.