§ Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the current timescale is for phasing out the use of the General Purpose Machine Gun. [129667]
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§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 7 July 2000]: The General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) in the Light Role is due to be withdrawn from service in 2015; those variants that are mounted onto vehicles or helicopters will be withdrawn in line with the relevant out of service date for the platform.
§ Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the facilities(a) in the United Kingdom and (b) elsewhere which (i)manufacture the general purpose machine gun barrel and (ii) are capable of manufacturing the general purpose machine gun barrel. [129668]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 7 July 2000]: In the UK, the Nottingham Small Arms Factory, which trades as H&K UK Ltd. located within RO Nottingham, is capable of manufacturing the general purpose machine gun (GPMG) barrel. Elsewhere, the Heckler and Koch (H&K) facility at Oberndorf, Germany and the Fabrique Nationale (FN) facility at Herstal, Belgium also have the capability to manufacture the GPMG barrel.
§ Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many general purpose machine guns(a) are in service and (b) were received into service in each of the last five years. [129666]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 7 July 2000]: There are currently some 11,300 general purpose machine guns (GPMG) in service. No purchases of the GPMG have been made in any of the last five years.