§ Mr. Andrew MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the current United Kingdom and NATO holdings of equipment covered by the Vienna negotiations on conventional forces in Europe.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonDefinitions of the treaty-limited items of equipment covered by CFE are not yet fixed. It is not therefore possible to be precise about the relevant holdings. But in general terms, on proposed western definitions the United Kingdom has some 1,250 battle tanks; 650 artillery pieces; 3,500 armoured combat vehicles; 1,000 combat aircraft; and 500 attack helicopters. Equivalent NATO figures are some 24,000 battle tanks; 18,000 artillery pieces; 30,000 armoured combat vehicles; 6,000 combat aircraft and 2,400 attack helicopters. The figures reflect the fact that for treaty purposes the definitions extend to equipment in storage and held in other non-operational forms, for example, in R and D and training establishments, rather than the more usual categorisation which reflects only equipment in active units.