§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the value of foreign military equipment purchased by the United Kingdom in each of the last three years. [18584]
§ Mr. SpellarThis is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Analytical Services Agency (DASA). I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Paul Altobell to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 4 December 1997:
333WI am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence concerning the value of foreign military equipment purchased by the United Kingdom in each of last three years, since this falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Defence Analytical Services Agency.The information is contained in our annual publication 'UK Defence Statistics' in Table 1.14—Imports of Defence Equipment. Copies of this publication are available from the House of Commons Library. For your convenience I attach a copy of the table.The table is compiled from HM Customs and Excise data and refers to deliveries of defence equipment which have passed through UK Customs. The equipment concerned falls under those headings in the UK Tariff and INTRASTAT Common Nomenclature categories which have been identified as covering purely military equipment.I hope you find the information useful.
1.14 (1.12) Imports of Defence equipment1 Current prices (£ million) 1975 1980 1985 1990 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 Warships — — — — 25 — — — 1 Guns, small arms and parts 6 32 40 36 48 41 36 71 46 Guided weapons, missiles and parts 25 65 119 190 163 167 107 134 124 Ammunition 14 20 35 27 34 4 3 5 9 Radio and radar apparatus — 21 11 32 35 — — — — Optical equipment and training simulators — 21 13 15 13 — 1 3 25 Split by origin1 NATO countries and other Europe 46 141 220 471 503 798 862 1,162 1,205 Asia and Far East 4 5 16 12 12 77 93 102 112 Latin America and Caribbean — 1 — — 4 4 6 3 5 Others — — 10 145 115 144 165 166 205 Source:
DASA (Financial).
Notes:
1 Compiled from Customs and Excise data. They refer only to deliveries of defence equipment which have passed through UK Customs. They relate only to those headings form the UK Tariff and form the INTRASTAT Common Nomencisture which have been identified as covering purely military equipment. Exports totals differ from figures for Defence Sales which are based on new contracts signed.
2 During the period covered by the tables, changes were made to the list of "identified" Defence equipment by:(a) parts of guided weapons and missiles being added from 1987.
(b) parts of military aircraft being added from 1988.
(c) military aircraft and parts being identified as "other than civil" rather than "military" from 1993 and
(d) military radio/radar apparatus, optical and infrared equipment and simulators other than ground flying trainers being deleted from 1993.
Further details are given in Defence Statistics Bulletin 4.
1. Based on figures from the Society of British Aerospace Companies. They relate only to those items where the official commodity classifications do not distinguish between military and civil aerospace equipment. These are liable to alter from year to year in line with changes to the classifications. Exports for collaborative projects are excluded.
2. Signed during the year for equipment and services. Figures taken from the Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO) publication "The World Defence Export Market", compiled from a regular DESO survey of the defence industry.
1.15 (1.13) Defence balance of payments: invisible transactions Current prices (£ million) 1985 1990 1992 19931 1994 1995 1996 Net balance -1,246 -2,037 -1,804 -1,521 -1,709 -1,691 -2,076 Total debits 1,620 2,541 2,321 2,033 2,164 2,057 2,284 Expenditure2 Germany 872 1,373 1,207 1,007 1,060 1,038 1,307 Other NATO countries 286 572 506 591 604 684 734 Mediterranean 113 169 147 183 124 135 145 Hong Kong 92 112 93 83 62 6 1 Other areas 258 316 368 169 314 194 97 Total credits 374 504 517 512 455 366 207 Receipts Receipts from US Forces in UK 142 153 187 155 172 136 115 Other receipts3 232 351 330 357 283 230 92 Notes: 1 From 1993, the basis of the table has changed, as some administrative data formerly used to construct the table were no longer available. The table now shows figures, produced for the Office for National Statistics as a component of the UK Balance of Payments, which cover more receipts. More details are given in Defence Statistics Bulletin 4. 2 Based on drawings of foreign exchange made to support our forces overseas. 3 A mix of sales and receipts from other governments and international organisations for services provided overseas.