§ Mr. Maurice Macmillanasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list in the Official Report the defence equipment cancellations which have taken place over the last 15 years, the cost to public funds of each project up to the time of cancellation and the years over which that expenditure was spread.
§ Dr. Gilbert, pursuant to the reply [Official Report, 22 February 1979; Vol. 963, c. 310], gave the following information:
The following table lists defence equipment cancellations since 1964. It excludes cancellations before 1970 on which the project expenditure did not exceed £250,000, cancellations since 1970 on which expenditure did not exceed £500,000 and projects affected by reductions in numbers. In certain cases information on the years over which the costs were incurred is not available without involving disproportionate effort.
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Date of cancellation Project Total project expenditure £ million Years over which expenditure spread 1971 Mark 31 torpedo … … 5.2 1968–72* 1974 Skynet III communications system … … 1.2 1971–74 1974 QC434 short range air-to-air missile … … 5.0 1972–75* 1974 Beeswing anti-tank guided missile … … 1.8 1970–75* 1975 Hawkswing anti-tank guided missile … … 8.0 1971–76 1975 RS 80 medium gun … … 4.5 1970–76* 1975 VIXEN … … 0.7 1971–76 1975 Argosy conversion … … 1.9 1973–76 1975 Infantry company radar … … 1.3 1971–76* 1975 Sub-Martel underwater to surface guided weapon. … … 16.3 1971–76* 1976 No. 29 Cupola for Chieftain … … 1.8 1974–76 1977 P/PD artillery fuze … … 3.8 1971–78 1977 Other projects … … 6.5 1976–78 * Some of the expenditure was incurred on termination expenses or in settlement of bills after the date quoted.