§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what percentage of the total cost(a) his Department, (b) BAE Systems RO Defence, and (c) the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency will pay to fund the study to assess future naval fire-support requirements for the Royal Navy; and if he will make a statement; [135745]
(2) how much time his Department, BAE Systems, and DERA have allotted for the fire-support requirements study; what percentage of the time frame will be dedicated to the development programme of the 155 mm naval gun; and if he will make a statement. [136000]
§ Dr. MoonieAlthough some preliminary MOD funded studies are being conducted, we have yet to define a programme to assess future naval fire support requirements. A number of studies will be necessary ranging from operational analysis to technology research. Until this is done, it is not possible to estimate the scope or cost of the work. One study is about to start to examine the technical options for naval variants of the 155 mm artillery gun, one potential approach to meeting our requirement, and this has a 50/50 funding split between MOD and BAE Systems.