§ Mr. RogersTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will issue a complete list of projects using the mandatory computer programme language Ada; if he will give the Ada specific costs involved in those projects; and whether the use of Ada has helped to control software development and maintenance costs.
§ Mr. SainsburyThe adoption of Ada as MOD's preferred language for new operational software, together with improvements in the management of those projects which have a large and complex software content, is helping to control the costs of software development and maintenance.
We do not insist inflexibly on the use of Ada. There will be particular circumstances where Ada cannot be used or where an alternative approach might offer better value for money. Information concerning those projects which do use Ada, and the Ada specific costs involved in these projects, is not held centrally. To obtain that information would require a special survey, and would incur disproportionate cost.