Mr. Carwrightasked the Secretary of State for Defence when United Kingdom orders for the supply of (a) Chinook helicopters, (b) sub-harpoon missiles and (c) tow missiles were placed with United States contractors; what were the expected completion dates; when orders placed for the associated offset work were placed with United Kingdom suppliers; when these are 370W likely to be completed; and what difficulties have been experienced in finding appropriate work to be placed in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. PattieThe order for Chinook helicopters was placed in January 1978 with a completion date of December 1981. The first production order for Sub-Harpoon missiles was placed in 1978 and further orders are still under consideration; completion dates will depend upon when the last order is placed, but it is expected that delivery will continue for several years. The order for TOW missiles was placed in December 1977 for delivery between May 1979 and April 1980. Offset commitments have to be placed and met within 10 years of the placing of the contract in the case of the Chinook and Sub-Harpoon programmes and within five years in the case of TOW. No difficulties have been found in making satisfactory progress in the first two programmes. In the case of TOW we have been disappointed at the volume of work obtained and are hoping to widen the scope of opportunities offered to United Kingdom industries.