§ Mr. Churchillasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Government of France have expressed interest in the purchase of Nimrod AEW aircraft; and what new aircraft building would be necessary following a French order.
§ Dr. GilbertIt is not our normal practice to discuss details of possible military sales to individual countries. I understand, however, that the French Government, in common with many others, are
Year Total of Defence Estimates (£m.—current prices) Approximate proportion attributable to Royal Navy per cent. Army per cent. Royal Air Force per cent. Other*per cent. 1967–68 … … 2,205 30 30 27 13 1968–69 … … 2,271 31 30 27 12 1969–70 … … 2,266 30 30 28 12 1970–71 … … 2,280 27 31 28 14 1971–72 … … 2,545 27 33 29 11 1972–73 … … 2,854 26 32 27 15 1973–74 … … 3,365 26 32 32 10 1974–75 … … 3,612 25 34 31 10 1975–76 … … 4,548 25 35 29 11 1976–77 … … 5,632 26 35 28 11 These proportions are not directly comparable from year to year, because of changes over the period both in organisation and of conventions.
*Covers the Procurement Executive expenditure on research and the operating costs of research and development establishments—and other items such as contributions to international defence organisations which cannot realistically be attributed to a particular Service.
76Wgiving thought to the problem of air attack at low level, and, therefore, to the various systems which are available to counter it.