§ Sir Antony Buckasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has completed his assessment of Exercise Lionheart and of its cost.
§ Mr. StanleyI informed the House in October 1984 that I was placing in the Library an unclassified initial assessment of Exercise Lionheart and that I would later make a report on the exercise which would include a statement on its costs.
Detailed analysis of the exercise has not led us to change our immediate impressions. It has provided welcome confirmation that our general planning in crucial areas is soundly based, and no major new factors arose. At the same time, the exercise enabled us to identify weaknesses in a number of areas which are now being addressed by the staffs concerned. There was no doubt about the benefits to be gained from holding an exercise on such a scale, and we aim to hold further such exercises in the future.
The final assessment of the cost to the United Kingdom of Exercise Lionheart is just over £29.5 million, some elements of which would have been incurred even had the exercise not taken place. Details of the costs are as follows:
£ million Personnel costs and services 7.1 Stores and supplies 7.3 Movements 9.5 Compensation and miscellaneous 5.6 29.5