§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the cost of the Mark II conversion of a Nimrod; how many Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft are currently in operational service; how many currently are being converted; when the conversions will be complete; and when the full strength of 34 Mark II aircraft will be reached.
§ Mr. BlakerAs stated in paragraph 626 of Vol. 1 of the "Statement on the Defence Estimates 1981"—Cmnd 8212-I—the unit cost for conversion of Nimrod MR 1 aircraft to MR 2 standard is £6.5 million at September 1980 prices. It is not our practice to reveal numbers of aircraft in operational service or details of rates of conversion affecting the front line. It is expected that the programme of conversions will be complete by the mid-1980s, but details for the last three aircraft have still to be settled.