§ Mr. ShoreTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many dual capable LRINF and SRINF aircraft were in service with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the Warsaw pact in 1985 and at the latest available date; and how many of these aircraft are equipped with air-to-surface missiles.
§ Mr. NeubertThe numbers of dual-capable LRINF and SRINF aircraft in service with NATO and the Warsaw pact are as follows:
1985 End 1988 LRINF NATO 150 140 Warsaw pact 350 300 SRINF NATO 1,300(600) 1,500(650) Warsaw pact 3,800 3,250 These figures cover land based aircraft deployed n Europe west of the Urals and exclude French aircraft and those with a primary maritime role. The figures in brackets show NATO aircraft certified for nuclear use. Comparable figures are not available for the Warsaw pact.
The majority of Warsaw pact dual-capable aircraft in these ranges are capable of carrying air-to-surface missiles armed with conventional or nuclear warheads. Some of these missiles have ranges of up to several hundred kilometres. None of the NATO aircraft is currently equipped with air-to-surface missiles armed with nuclear warheads.