§ Mr. Robert Atkinsasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is the optimum in-service date for the Royal Air Force for the next generation fighter aircraft;
(2) whether he expects an existing engine, a derivative of an existing engine or a new engine to be available for the aircraft requirement agreed recently by the air staffs of Her Majesty's Government, West Germany, Italy, France and Spain;
(3) what engine he expects to be fitted to the aircraft requirement agreed recently by the air staffs of Her Majesty's Government, West Germany, Italy, France and Spain;
(4) what is the weight of the aircraft requirement agreed recently by the air staffs of Her Majesty's Government, West Germany, Italy, France and Spain.
§ Mr. PattieThe air staffs of the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy and Spain have reached agreement on an outline European staff target for a new fighter aircraft for the mid-1990s. No decisions have been taken on the method of meeting the outline target. The next step is to explore the viability of a collaborative programme.