Friend or Foe System (Hansard, 10 November 1999)

§ Mr. Hancock
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost of upgrading the Identification Friend or Foe Mk Xa systems to the system Mk XII standard; and how many systems will undergo this upgrade. [97137]

§ Mr. Kilfoyle
This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member
Letter from John Howe to Mr. Mike Hancock, dated 10 November 1999: I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence on what estimate he has made of the cost of upgrading the Identification Friend or Foe MKXa systems to the system MK XII standard; and how many systems will undergo this upgrade. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief of Defence Procurement and Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. The competition to select an equipment supplier for the Successor Identification Friend or Foe programme is currently underway. Consequently, it could prejudice the Department's negotiating position if the estimated cost of upgrading the Identification Friend or Foe MKXa systems to the system MKXII standard were revealed. This information is therefore withheld in accordance with exception 7 to the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. The number of the systems to be upgraded is likely to be in the order of 1000 transponders and 600 interrogators for some forty platform types.

§ Mr. Hancock
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many successor identification Friend or Foe system contracts have been awarded; and what is the total value of these contracts. [97136]

§ Mr. Kilfoyle
This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member
Letter from John Howe to Mr. Mike Hancock, dated 10 November 1999: I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence on the number and value of the Successor Identification Friend or Foe system contracts. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief of Defence Procurement and Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency Sixty two contracts have been awarded to study the fitting of a Successor Identification Friend or Foe system to a number of platforms. Separately, a contract has been placed for the development, production and installation of a Successor Identification Friend or Foe system on Tornado F3 aircraft fleet. The total value of these contracts amounts to £92M, of which approximately 75% is for Tornado F3 and the remaining 25% for the study work.

§ Mr. Rapson
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to purchase the Raytheon Systems Ltd. successor identification Friend or Foe system; and what representations he has received with regard to this technology. [97213]

§ Mr. Kilfoyle
This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to my hon. Friend.
549W
Letter from John Howe to Mr. Syd Rapson, dated 10 November 1999: I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence on whether he will make it his policy to purchase the Raytheon Systems Ltd Successor Identification Friend or Foe system; and what representation he has received with regard to this technology. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief of Defence Procurement and Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. We have received bids from Raytheon Systems Ltd and Marconi Avionics into the Successor Identification Friend or Foe equipment supplier competition. The bids are currently being assessed and I am therefore unable to comment further at this stage. However, I can assure you that all the relevant factors will be taken into account in selecting a preferred bidder.