§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the calibre of the scientific and technical staff of his Department overseeing the development of the Nimrod system; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonI have every confidence in the scientific and technical staff employed by the Ministry of Defence.
§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Defence to what he attributes the cost overspends and the overruns on the Nimrod programme.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThese can be largely attributed to what was with hindsight a significant underestimation at the outset of the project in 1977 of the technical difficulty and hence the timescale and cost of completing the work. The absence of contractual incentives was also a contributory factor.
§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Defence to what extent the Nimrod programme required technological innovations; and what account was taken of this when assessing the extent and level of scientific and technical supervision from his Department.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonWhen it was authorised in 1977, the Nimrod AEW project was considered to he technologically ambitious, but nonetheless achievable within the state of the art at that time. In recognition of the degree of technological innovation required, considerable scientific and technical resources were made available both from the Department's research and development establishments and from headquarters staff.
§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Defence to what extent poor performance by contractors and failure to follow Ministry of Defence supervision has contributed to delays in the Nimrod programme; and what action was taken by his Department in response to each such incident.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe performance by GEC Avionics Ltd. on the Nimrod programme has to be viewed against the background of an initial underestimate of the technical difficulties involved. However, it is because we 259W were dissatisfied with the action being taken to resolve these difficulties that we initiated the current competition and negotiated the interim risk-sharing contractual arrangements under which development work is currently proceeding.
§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the application of the outcome of research programmes for Nimrod in areas other than to defence; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe research work undertaken in support of the Nimrod AEW project has led to significant advances in a number of technical areas, including antennae, high power transmitters and radar signal processing. These are expected to be of value in both civil and military applications. The general aim of encouraging exploitation of defence research for civil benefit has been further enhanced recently by the creation of Defence Technology Enterprises Ltd. which was set up as a joint initiative between MOD and industry.