Future Large Aircraft (Hansard, 17 November 1997)

§ Mr. Blunt
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the number of defence industry jobs likely to be generated by a British order for the future large aircraft.[13136]

§ Mr. Spellar
As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence announced on 31 July,Official Report, column 446, we have agreed to join our partners in issuing a Request for Proposals to Airbus Military Company for a future large aircraft (FLA). Additionally, we are seeking competing bids from other aircraft manufacturers to meet our future air transport requirements. We expect that all proposals will involve substantial benefits for the UK defence industry. If FLA were to be selected, we would expect it to create several thousand jobs in the UK over the life of the project.

§ Mr. Blunt
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his assessment of the market potential for the(a) FLA and (b) C130J worldwide.[13139]

§ Mr. Spellar
The estimates supplied to the Department by potential aircraft suppliers are commercially confidential. Accordingly, I am withholding the information requested under exemption 13 of the Code of Practice.