§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Prime Minister if he was consulted over the Eurofighter cannon deselection; and if that aircraft, in its original planning phase, had a secondary ground assault capability. [130785]
§ The Prime MinisterThe decision to delete the 27 mm Mauser cannon from Eurofighter was taken by the Secretary of State for Defence on the advice of RAF and MOD officials. The minimal operational utility of the cannon on Eurofighter in any role is outweighed by its support, fatigue and training cost implications.
The original 1985 European Staff Requirement included both air defence and offensive air support for Eurofighter, but with air defence as its priority. This position remains unchanged.