§ 75. Mr. Patrick McNair-Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he is satisfied that the standard of small arms ammunition being issued to the British Army is sufficiently high; and if he will make a statement.
§ 76 and 77. Mr. Peytonasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what complaints he has received concerning the quality of 7.62 millimetre ammunition supplied to British forces;
(2) if he is satisfied that the Royal Ordnance factory at Radway Green is adequately equipped to produce ammunition of a consistently high standard; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BoydenI am satisfied that the standard of small arms ammunition being 107W issued to the British Army is sufficiently high and that the Royal Ordnance factory at Radway Green is adequately equipped to produce it.
The current United Kingdom specification for the 7.62 mm. round requires that "when fired from a Service 7.62 mm. weapon or barrel mounted in a fixed rest at a range of 500 yards the mean figure of merit of not less that 4 targets of 20 rounds each must not exceed 8 inches". This United Kingdom specification is slightly more demanding that its N.A.T.O. equivalent. Firings at the N.A.T.O. European Regional Test Centre have indicated that the performance of the United Kingdom manufactured round is well within both United Kingdom and N.A.T.O. specifications.
I have received no formal complaints on this subject.