§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his assessment of the threat posed to UK interests by the Condor missile programme; which countries have participated in it; and whether missiles developed in respect of the programme are still in position. [17208]
§ Mr. SoamesWhile we remain extremely vigilant to the potential for ballistic missile technology proliferation, we do not consider Condor II to be a threat to UK interests. The Condor II ballistic missile programme developed by Argentina in partnership with a number of European technical consultants in the 1980s, was deactivated in May 1991 when Argentina acceded to the missile technology control regime. Although both Egypt and Iraq were customers for Condor missile technology and associated production facilities, we do not believe that Condor was ever flight tested or deployed anywhere in the world.