§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any decisions on the subject of ballistic missile defences were taken in NATO at the December 1996 meeting, and whether any further action is anticipated, and if so what.
Earl HoweAs part of the process of embedding the conclusions of the NATO Senior Defence Group on Proliferation into the established NATO defence planning system, Defence Ministers agreed in December a number of force goals, including one in respect of Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence (TBMD) for deployed forces. Alliance work is also in hand to develop programme options for possible common procurement of TBMD for deployed forces.