§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the project definition, milestones and costs of the armoured scout reconnaissance vehicle programme. [69571]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 8 February 1999]: The Armoured Scout Reconnaissance Vehicle is a collaborative programme between the UK and the USA to study candidate technologies to meet our common requirements for battlefield reconnaissance for the Army of the future. Contracts for a 42 month Project Definition Phase were awarded to the SIKA and LANCER consortia on 29 January 1999. No commitment has been made to 120W the programme beyond the Project Definition Phase. Decisions will be made following a Balance of Investment Study, which will determine the optimum solution to the Land Commander's information gathering requirement. As part of the wider study, we will also be investigating the use of Unmanned Aerial and Land Vehicles.
The total cost to the UK for the joint elements of the Project Definition Phase contracts will be around £90 million, excluding VAT. In addition, the UK will be spending around £7 million, excluding VAT, on UK specific issues.