Dr. ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the regulations governing safety officers involved in training under battlefield conditions using live ammunition. [18293]
§ Mr. SoamesThe qualifications required to allow officers and NCOs to conduct such training are subject to continual review and are revised where necessary. The qualifications held by individual officers and NCOs are reviewed annually by commanding officers.
Dr. ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration he has given to the use of lasers instead of live ammunition during training exercises. [18292]
§ Mr. SoamesMy Department is seeking to introduce lasers into training exercises where it is practicable to do so. The Army is currently using direct fire weapon effects simulators, which employ eye-safe lasers in order to provide realistic two-sided manoeuvre training, known as tactical engagement simulation. This type of training has already commenced on Salisbury plain and is to be introduced at Suffield Canada and a smaller work-up training site in Germany.