HC Deb 28 July 1998 vol 317 c202W
Mr. Alan Simpson

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list the yields and total amounts in the British stockpile of the WE177 nuclear warhead; [52188]

(2) if he will list the yields, amount deployed per missile and total amount in the British stockpile of the Chevaline nuclear warhead. [52185]

Mr. Spellar

As stated in paragraph 10 of Supporting Essay 5 to the Strategic Defence Review White Paper, each of our Polaris submarines carried 32 Chevaline warheads and, at the end of the Cold War, we had a stockpile of several hundred WE177 free-fall nuclear bombs. Precise details of the total numbers of weapons held and on explosive yields are covered by exemption 1 of the Code of Practice governing access to Government information.

Mr. Alan Simpson

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what British involvement there is in the US SLBM Warhead Protection Programme. [52177]

Mr. George Robertson

To date British involvement in the US SLBM Warhead Protection programme has been limited to briefings.