§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will examine the arrangements established under the last government between the Ministry of Defence and the US Ballistic Missile Defence Organisation (BMDO), including the financial aspects of these relations; and whether they can confirm that British industry accounted for nearly half of the 374 contracts which BMDO has awarded to foreign firms since 1985.
§ Lord GilbertUK collaborative involvement in the US Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) programme is carried out under the auspices of the 1985 US/UK "SDI" Memorandum of Understanding. There are currently no plans to review these arrangements.
Since 1985, about 30 Government-to-Government agreements, called Letters of Offer and Acceptance (LOAs) have been concluded between the US and the UK, with the work being carried out by UK industry, universities and the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. In addition, BMDO and other US Department of Defense organisations have placed direct contracts with UK firms. No current records are maintained by HMG of these direct contracts.