§ Mr. Gwynfor Evansasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the latest estimate of the development cost of the MRCA; what proportion of this expenditure will be incurred by the United Kingdom; what is the latest estimated cost per MRCA; how many the Government propose to purchase; and what is the estimate of the proportion of total development and production costs of the MRCA which will be incurred in Wales.
§ Mr. William RodgersThe total cost of the common development work in the phase recently completed is estimated to have been £345 million, of which the United Kingdom's share is £166 million. Under the conventions normally adopted by Her Majesty's Government and our partners in the programme, the current estimate for the basic unit cost of the common version of MRCA which is at September 1973 prices is £3.4 million. Current planning requirements for the United Kingdom are for 385 aircraft. In common with those for all other projects, these are being examined in the current Defence Review. Firm orders will not need to be placed before December 1975.
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Percentage of GNP at factor cost Per cent. Per capita expenditure £ Total expenditure £m. NATO* Belgium … … … 3.0 53 511 Canada … … … 2.4 44 980 Denmark … … … 2.5 47 237 France … … … 4.2 73 3,785 Federal Republic of Germany … … 3.9 81 4,865 (including Berlin) … … … (4.7) (98) (5,872) Greece … … … 4.6 29 265 Italy … … … 3.3 30 1,674 Luxembourg … … … 1.0 18 6 Netherlands … … … 3.7 59 793 Norway … … … 3.8 62 245 Portugal … … … 6.4 29 246 Turkey … … … 4.8 9 363 United Kingdom … … … 5.7 63 3,518 United States … … … 6.6 152 32,000 Warsaw Pact† Bulgaria … … … 3.0 62 500 Czechoslovakia … … … 5.0 73 1,100 East Germany … … … 6.0 72 1,20[...] Hungary … … … 3.0 47 500 Poland … … … 4.0 45 1,500 Rumania … … … 2.0 35 700 USSR … … … 8.0 131 32,000 *These figures are on the NATO definition. † Estimates only. It is not possible to arrive at fully comparable figures. Sub-contract work on the MRCA is spread over a very large number of firms in each of the three participating countries under contractual arrangements which are supervised by the international management agency (NAMMA) in Munich. Information about the precise location of sub-contract work, particularly at the lower levels, is not readily available and would take disproportionate effort to obtain.