§ Mr. BeggsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence concerning the number of jobs which would be created within the United Kingdom through the Ministry of Defence ASTOR programme; and if he will make a statement; [10813]
(2) what is his estimate of the number of additional jobs which would be created through use of the bombardier global express platform in the ASTOR programme. [10814]
§ Mr. Andrew SmithThe Ministry of Defence aims to place the contract for the ASTOR programme in the next year. Two contractors, Lockheed-Martin and Raytheon E-Systems, have completed the competitive project definition studies for the ASTOR programme and invitations. Final offers for the full development and production phase are currently being prepared, following which the companies' detailed industrial participation proposals will form part of the assessment in awarding the contract.
Therefore, at this stage of what is a sensitive competition, we cannot speculate about the number of jobs that may be created.