§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his plans to acquire a new British military satellite, and to provide a terminal on all major surface ships.
§ Mr. Pattie[pursuant to his answer, 24 January 1984, c. 460]: I very much regret that I did not provide the House with a complete reply. The answer should have been as follows:
Strategic and tactical communications will be provided by two Skynet 4 military satellites. These are being procured from the British Aerospace dynamics group in association with its principal subcontractor Marconi Space and Defence Systems Ltd. It is intended they will be launched into geostationary orbit the United States' space transportation system—the shuttle.All operational major warships are to be fitted with military satellite communication terminals by the end of the decade.