§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the costs of the Trident missile bodies ordered in 1997 are included in the Trident project cost estimate. [24048]
§ Mr. George RobertsonThe procurement costs of all the UK's Trident missile bodies are included in the Trident acquisition cost estimate, which currently stands at some £12.6 billion.
The maintenance and support costs of the missiles are included in the operating costs of Trident, which have been estimated at an average of £200 million per year over the 30 year lifetime of the system. We are currently looking at the basis of this cost estimate in the light of operating experience and as part of the wider Strategic Defence Review.
344WI regret that I did not make this distinction clear in my oral reply to the hon. Member for Moray (Mrs. Ewing) on 12 January 1998, Official Report, columns 12–13.