§ Mr. Hastingsasked the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made in the Procurement and Research and Development Committees of Euro[...] Group; when he expects a decision on the new NATO battle tank and a replacement strike aircraft for the 1980s; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MasonThe Eurogroup Committee of National Armaments Directors—EURONAD—the principal Eurogroup committee for procurement—there is no separate committee specifically concerned with research and development—has made substantial progress in promoting equipment co-operation within the alliance. Its work has included the establishment of the Eurogroup principles of equipment collaboration, the identification of future possibilities for co-operation, and the preparation of a report to Eurogroup Ministers on European-North American co-operation in defence procurement. Some member countries have obtained advantages in training and logistics from jont Eurogroup auspices.
The work of EURONAD is supplemented by the Eurogroup sub-group on battlefield communications—EUROCOM—which has established agreed technical parameters to which future systems should conform, and by "Eurolongterm" which has made good progress in establishing tactical sub-concepts for particular areas of warfare: a number of outline staff targets are being prepared on the basis of these with a view to the possibility of collaborative projects in due course.
Concept studies of a future main battle tank are being conducted by Britain and Germany; members of Eurogroup and NATO are being kept informed. We are also actively discussing with our allies the possibilities of future European collobaration on a fighter-bomber. The United Kingdom requirement is for an aircraft to replace the Harrier and Jaguar in the middle to late 1980s. Decisions on 446W these two projects would only be taken after the requirements have been fully discussed.