§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the significance of the European fighter aircraft to the defence of the United Kingdom; how much public money has been committed to it; and if he intends to cancel the programme in the light of the disclosure of Libyan part ownership of Fiat.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[pursuant to his reply, 13 January 1986, c. 534.]: The European fighter aircraft is intended to be the successor to Phantom and Jaguar aircraft currently in service in the air defence and ground attack roles. To date, we have spent or contractually committed some £2 million on the collaborative programme. In addition, the participating nations are committed to the project definition phase of the programme; this is the subject of current contractual negotiation and it would therefore be inappropriate to publish a cost estimate. The question of cancellation does not arise.