§ 70. Sir A. V. Harveyasked the Minister of Defence what is the present position with regard to the provision of surface-to-air guided weapons for the Armed Forces; and what efforts to achieve weapon standardisation have been made.
§ Mr. WatkinsonThe plan is to equip the Royal Navy with Seaslug for the defence of the Fleet; the Army with Thunderbird for its defence in the field; and the R.A.F. with Bloodhound for the defence of fixed bases. Seaslug will be fitted to the guided missile destroyers now under construction. Thunderbird Mark I is already in service with the Army and Bloodhound Mark I with the R.A.F. A decision has now been taken to place orders for the Mark 2 versions of both weapons.
53WThe possibilities of standardisation have been kept well in mind. There was never any question of adopting Seaslug for land-based use, but the possibility of a single land-based weapon for the Army and R.A.F. was explored. It became clear, however, that no solution on these lines would save money and at the same time provide a satisfactory solution to the needs of the two Services.