§ Sir Peter HordernTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what United States supplied alternatives to the Spearfish and Stingray torpedoes were considered at the time of the decision to proceed with those programmes; and what were their costs.
§ Mr. SainsburyThe United States MK46 and MK48 torpedoes were evaluated as alternatives to Stingray and Spearfish respectively. The estimated total programme cost for the MK46 was £200 million (at September 1979 prices) and for the MK48 it was £475 million (at September 1980 prices).
§ Sir Peter HordernTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the original estimate of the cost of the Spearfish torpedo; what was the value of the joint fixed price contract with Marconi for the completion of development and initial production of Spearfish and Stingray torpedoes; and what has been the expenditure on Spearfish and Stingray torpedoes to the latest convenient date.
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§ Mr. SainsburyThe original estimated total programme cost of Spearfish was £155 million (at current prices). The fixed price contract for the development and initial production of Spearfish and Stingray was let in 1981 at a value of £496 million.
Total programme expenditure to 31 January 1989 was £594 million on Spearfish and £1,443 million on Stingray, both figures at current prices.