§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is his latest estimate of the proportion of (a) development and (b) the production costs of the warhead element of the Trident programme which will be attributable to (i) the United States of America and (ii) the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. SainsburyIt has been the policy of successive Governments not to release information of this nature for reasons of security.
§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for Defence to what factors he attributes the fall since 1981 in the cost estimate for the Trident warhead procurement programme.
§ Mr. SainsburyThe fall is attributable to the fact that after six years it has been possible to estimate the costs to completion with greater precision.
§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for Defence to what factor he attributes the rise since 1981 in the proportion of total Trident programme expenditure attributable to warhead, miscellaneous and unallocated contingency expenditure.
§ Mr. SainsburyApproximately one third of the increase in the proportion of the Trident budget attributable to "Warhead, miscellaneous and unallocated contingency etc." is due to net cost increases in the areas of support and602W contingency within this element of the budget. The remainder is due to net cost reductions in other elements of the Trident budget.