§ Mr. Wilkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will make a statement on the participation of Hunter and Hawk aircraft of the Royal Air Force in exercise Elder Forest 80 and their performance in the roles assigned to them.
§ Mr. PattieAlthough they are used in peacetime for training, RAF Hunter aircraft, and the Hawks which are replacing them, would be used in wartime to supplement our specialist air defence fighters. Flown by instructor pilots, they are assigned a local defence role behind the main shield of our long range interceptors. It was one of the objectives of Exercise Elder Forest to test this element of our plans. The results are still being evaluated.