§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the procurement projects in category C or above whose in-service dates have been postponed or notified to industry during 1999, indicating the (i) original and (ii) new in-service dates. [82897]
§ Mr. SpellarThe In-service dates, ISD, of equipment may be revised during procurement for a number of reasons: to reflect project changes; to reflect a more realistic assessment of delivery dates; or because of adjustments to our wider defence programme priorities. Contractors are notified of revised dates when there may be contractual implications.
Since the start of this year, the forecast ISDs for those projects that have passed the initial concept phase and which have been postponed are as follows:
Project ISD as at 31 December 1998 1999 ISD Sonar 2193 for Hunt Class October 2001 October 2003 Survey Vessel 1 July 2001 July 2002 Alternative Landing Ship September 2002 February 2004 Logistic 1 Stingray Life Extension May 2004 May 2005 Royal Navy Joint Tactical Information Distribution System—ship fit December 2001 December 2002 Sonar 2087 August 2004 December 2004 Radar Type 996 January 2002 May 2002 Availability Improvements Radar Type 996 Track Extractor September 2001 January 2002 All Terrain Vehicle (Protected) December 2002 June 2003 Medium Range Third Generation Anti-Tank Guided Weapon August 2003 June 2005 Heavy Equipment Transporter December 2002 May 2003 Joint Tactical Information Distribution System for third Tornado Squadron December 1998 December 1999 Nimrod MRA4 April 2003 March 2005 Two further projects have similarly been postponed, the Cooperative Outboard Logistic Update, with a delay of 12 months, and Project Botanical, with a delay of 37 months. Publication of the precise ISDs of these projects could give potential enemy an insight into a sensitive operational capability and I am, therefore, withholding this information under exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.