§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much Kevlar is stocked by British manufacturers of body armour; where Kevlar is manufactured; and if he will make a statement. [11569]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 31 October 2001]: Kevlar is a Dupont Commercial brand name for one product line associated with the Aramid family of materials. Information on the total quantity of Aramid materials held commercially is not available to the Ministry of Defence as the companies concerned consider it Commercial in Confidence. Recent inquiries of these firms have however, indicated that they have sufficient stocks available to meet the MOD's requirements.
Kevlar supplied to British manufacturers of body armour is manufactured by Dupont at their facility in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the tendering companies for body armour are British-based. [11567]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 31 October 2001]: On the last tender exercise for body armour, all of the five companies invited to tender were British-based.
§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if body armour can be constructed of materials other than Kevlar. [11568]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 31 October 2001]: Yes. Kevlar is a Dupont commercial brand name for one product line of the Aramid family of materials. Other manufacturing companies make their own Aramid fibres, for instance Twaron. Materials other than Aramids can be used for ballistic protection but have cost, weight and/or bulk limitations, which could affect individual performance.
§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many suits of body armour are on order by his Department; and what estimate he has made of the need for body armour in view of land operations in Afghanistan. [11565]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 31 October 2001]: There are no orders currently outstanding for body armour within the Department. There are currently sufficient stocks of body armour available to meet current planned deployments.
§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what tenders are open for the supply of body armour; when they will be concluded; and how many companies he expects to tender. [11566]
769W
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 31 October 2001]: One tender exercise is currently on-going for the supply of a sample quantity of body armour fillers and plates. Once these samples have been evaluated, Invitations to Tender will be issued to up to five UK-based companies within the next month.