§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Cunninghame, North of 3 May,Official Report, column 384, if interceptions of a single Soviet aircraft sorties by several different Royal Air Force aircraft are counted as one interception or as several.
§ Mr. Ian StewartA single penetration of the United Kingdom air defence region by Soviet military aircraft may result in more than one interception by Royal Air Force aircraft. Such interceptions are recorded individually. Equally, however, where an aircraft, or a flight of RAF aircraft, intercepts two or more Soviet aircraft flying together this would be recorded as a single interception.
§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Cunninghame, North of 3 May,Official Report, column 384, if any change has taken place in the average number of interceptions by the Royal Air Force of Soviet aircraft per week since 1987.
§ Mr. Ian StewartIt would not be appropriate to comment on Soviet aircraft activity over periods shorter than one year.