§ Mr. Menzies CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what considerations prompted United Kingdom participation in the NATO conventional arms planning system agreement; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkThe United Kingdom, in common with other NATO nations, participated in the trial of a conventional armaments planning system to determine whether a system could be devised to meet the following objectives: to provide guidance to the conference of national armaments directors (CNAD) and orientation to248W the nations on how the military needs of the Alliance can best be met by national armaments programmes, individually and collectively, and to help to elaborate armaments co-operation opportunities and priorities for CNAD.
The trial was completed in October, and NATO Ministers, meeting in the reinforced council in November, adopted the recommendation put to them by CNAD, that two full cycles of the conventional armaments planning system should now take place over the next four years, based on procedures derived from the lessons learnt during the trial.