§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make a statement on the prototype biological defence vehicles which his Department intends to purchase; [69560]
(2) what progress his Department is making on the development of personal biological weapons detectors. [69558]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 8 February 1999]: A number of vehicle-mounted Prototype Biological Detection Systems were accepted into service on 7 December 1998. They provide a deployable detection capability to supply field commanders with the information necessary to institute protective and medical countermeasures. These prototype systems provide an interim capability until the vehicle-mounted Integrated Biological Detection System enters service. This is currently the subject of a competition for full development and production.
MOD work on a personal biological agent detection system is currently at the research stage.