§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many AN/PRC-138 125W HF radios his Department plans to acquire; and if he will make a statement. [113960]
§ Dr. MoonieThis 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 Robert Walmsley to Mr. Mike Hancock, dated 15 March 2000:
I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence on how many AN/PRC-138 125W radios the Department plan to acquire. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief of Defence Procurement and Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA).203WThe DPA has procured a total of ninety AN/PRC-138 patrol radio equipments. Of these, sixty-nine were procured with 125W amplifiers, three were procured with 150W amplifiers and eighteen were procured in their patrol (20W) configuration. The Department has no immediate plans to acquire any more AN/PRC-138 radios (in any configuration) though these equipments could be considered for future programmes if they were technically suitable and represented the best value for money.