§ Mr. TrotterTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out the purpose of the air defence alerting device recently brought into servive with the Army; which systems it replaces and in what roles; what similar equipment is in service with, or on order for, the other services; what are the approximate costs involved; who are the principal contractors; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AitkenThe air defence alerting device (ADAD) is a passive, infra-red surveillance device, manufactured by Thorn EMI, which has recently entered service. It will be deployed with the Army's and the Royal Marines' close air defence weapon systems to provide passive early warning of potential aerial targets. In addition to the free-standing version, which is now being deployed with the Javelin system, ADAD will be vehicle mounted for use with the self-propelled version of the Starstreak high-velocity missile, due to come into service in 1994. ADAD is a completely new system which will provide a significant enhancement to the Army's close air defence alerting capability, which previously relied on human detection. The overall investment in the programme will exceed £100 million.