§ Mr. David MartinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress towards signature of the common new generation frigate Horizon/principal anti-air missile system memoranda of understanding. [22987]
§ Mr. ArbuthnotIn July 1994, with his French and Italian colleagues, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence signed the project Horizon memorandum of understanding concerning a programme for the joint definition, design, development, production and in-service support of a common new generation frigate, which will replace the type 42 destroyers early in the next century. This programme is made up of two projects—the principal anti-air missile system and project Horizon, which embraces the ship itself and all other weapon, command and communications systems. Each of these will be managed under the terms of separate programme MOUs and a series of supplements giving phased authority and release of funding for each phase of the project.
I am pleased to announce that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence and his French and Italian colleagues have signed memoranda of understanding for the PAAMs programme and for the arrangements for PAAMS full-scale engineering development and initial production phase, together with the supplement to the Horizon programme MOU for the design definition phase for the ship and its other systems. The signature of these three MOUs is a major step forward and reaffirms the Government's commitment to this important co-operative project.