§ Mr. Eldon Griffithsasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if, in light of his figures on page 7 of the Defence Estimates showing increases in the strength of Soviet forces in Central Europe over the period 1968 to 1978, he will list, for purposes of comparison, the changes that have taken place over the same period in the numbers of battle tanks, artillery, armoured personnel carriers and fixed wing aircraft available to British forces in Germany;
(2) if, in light of his figures on page 6 of the Defence Estimates showing increases in the strength of Soviet naval forces in the Eastern Atlantic over the period 1968 to 1978, he will list, for purposes of comparison, the changes that have taken place 779W over the same period in the numbers of Royal Navy nuclear powered submarines, missile armed and other types of cruisers and destroyers, frigates and escorts, and fixed wing maritime aircraft.
1968 1978 Submarines (including Polaris submarines) 39 (including 6 nuclear-powered) 30 (including 14 nuclear-powered) Cruisers and destroyers 20 (including 6 guided missile destroyers) 14 (including 12 guided missile destroyers) Frigates and escorts 62 frigates 54 frigates As regards the strengths of the other Forces it is not the practice to disclose such detailed information.