§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Typhoon will be capable of delivering(a) Storm Shadow, (b) Precision Guided bombs, (c) ALARM, (d) Brimstone, (e) unguided bombs and (f) cluster bombs in operations. [125614]
§ Mr. IngramWhen Typhoon becomes available for operational deployment in the second half of this decade it will be equipped primarily to carry out air defence sorties but will also have a limited ground attack capability. On current plans, Typhoon will be capable of delivering both ALARM and unguided bombs at that stage. Subsequent incremental operational enhancements will develop Typhoon into a truly multi-role weapon system. The content and timing of these enhancements are the subject of ongoing negotiations with industry and partner nations. Our aim, however, is for a fully enhanced multi-role Typhoon to become available for operations early in the next decade. We have no plans for cluster bombs to be fitted to Typhoon.