§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence, on the basis of information available to him from international sources, from the ships of which foreign navies Harriers have been flown.
§ Mr. William RodgersThe Harrier or earlier variants have flown from ships of the navies of the Argentine, Brazil, France, India, Italy, Spain and the United States.
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence on the basis of information available to him from international sources, which foreign navies, apart from those of the Warsaw Pact, operate (a) aircraft carriers and (b) other vessels from which it might be possible to operate Harrier aircraft.
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§ Mr. William RodgersAircraft carriers are operated by the Argentine, Australia, Brazil, France, India, Spain, and the United States. There are many navies with ships from which, with varying effectiveness, Harrier aircraft could be operated.
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence what steps have been taken to establish the possible foreign market for a naval version of the Harrier and what is the present estimate of the number and value of the planes likely to be exported if the version went into production.
§ Mr. William RodgersWe are aware of overseas interest in the naval version of Harrier, but it is too early to give firm esimates of the number and value of aircraft likely to be exported.
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence in which years trials of Harrier aircraft have been made from ships (a) of the Royal Navy and (b) of foreign navies.
§ Mr. William RodgersHarrier flights were carried out from Royal Navy ships in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973 and 1975, and from foreign ships in 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974.
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many years have elapsed since the first trials from a ship of (a) a Harrier aircraft and (b) its experimental predecessor the P1127.
§ Mr. William RodgersThe first ship trials by the Harrier were in 1969, by the Kestrel in 1966 and by the P1127 in 1963.
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence when a contract was first entered into for the development of a naval version of the Harrier; what are the costs to date of such development; and his estimate of the further time and costs to completion of the development.
§ Mr. William RodgersA contract has still to be placed for the development of a naval version of the Harrier. The costs of the project definition study and subsequent support for design work have so far amounted to £1.3 million. At this stage I would prefer not to make any forward estimates.
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§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence when the specification for a naval Harrier type aircraft was drawn up.
§ Mr. William RodgersThe staff requirement was drawn up in 1972.