§ Mr. Soamesasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the development of the Merlin mortar programme.
§ Mr. LeeMerlin originated as a private venture project by British Aerospace to produce an 81 mm terminally-guided anti-tank mortar bomb. The Ministry of Defence subsequently shared with the company funding of work to472W take the project to a stage where informed decisions could be taken on whether to proceed with full development and subsequent production. Following this work we have concluded that, despite the potential benefits of Merlin, it could not be given sufficient operational priority to find a place in the equipment programme. British Aerospace is aware of this decision.