§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the Scalp EG missile is being built in the UK; and what agreements have been made on the United Kingdom's share of the work. [84516]
§ Mr. SpellarThis is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.
344WLetter from Robert Walmsley to Mr. Mike Hancock, dated 19 May 1999:
I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence which asked what percentage of the Scalp EG missile is being built in the UK; and what agreements have been made on the United Kingdom's share of the work. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency.Scalp EG is being procured by the French government for its own armed forces; it is essentially the same weapon as Storm Shadow, which we are procuring for the UK's forces, although there are certain unique requirements specific to each country. National procurements are being pursued under separate contracts: the UK's contract for Storm Shadow was placed with Matra BAe Dynamics UK Ltd in February 1997 and the French government's contract for Scalp EG was placed with Matra BAe Dynamics France S.A. in December 1997. The two parts of Matra BAe Dynamics act as separate prime contractors and hold the individual Storm Shadow and Scalp EG contracts for their respective national governments.Although a Memorandum of Understanding exists between the UK and France covering co-operation in and co-ordination on technical matters of these missile programmes, this does not allow UK access to details of the French Industries' commercial arrangements and commitments. I am therefore unable to provide the information you seek.I am sorry I cannot be more helpful.