§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his Department's latest estimate for the cost of the Eurofighter 2000 project; what was the original estimated cost; when the Eurofighter is due in service; and when it was originally due in service.
§ Mr. FreemanThe estimated total cost of EF2000, comprising the costs of development, production and integrated logistic support, to the United Kingdom is £14.9 billion. The original estimated total cost in 1986 was £12.7 billion at today's prices.
At the time of the original approval, the EF2000 entry into service date was December 1998. Reorientation of the project, agreed by the Defence Ministers of the EF2000 partner nations in December 1992, has changed this to December 2000.