§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total estimated cost to his Department of its involvement in "Exercise Red Flag" to be held in Nevada in the United States of America in 1980; and how many Royal Air Force aircraft will be involved.
§ Mr. PattieTwenty RAF aircraft, Vulcans, Buccaneers and Jaguars, will be involved in "Exercise Red Flag", which takes place in January and February 1980. It has not yet been decided whether the RAF will participate in a further such exercise later in 1980. The costs of participation are included in financial provision for the RAF's training as a whole in 1980, and it would require disproportionate effort to identify "Red Flag" costs separately. Its training value is, however, beyond question.