§ Mr. KidneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the training of RAF aircrews in laser-guided bombing performance; and what plans he has for improving it. [134403]
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§ Mr. SpellarAs we have acknowledged in the publication 'Kosovo—Lessons from the Crisis', the RAF already has a well-practised low-level all-weather attack capability. Given the strong possibility that future operations could, as in Kosovo, be conducted at medium altitude, we have considered how best to be prepared for such an eventuality. Precision guided munitions, including the RAF's Laser Guided Bombs (Paveway II and Paveway III), achieved good results in the Kosovo crisis. The RAF had built up their precision attack capability as a consequence of lessons from the Gulf War and this paid dividends, with the laser-guided systems performing well and in accordance with expectations. Nevertheless, the limitations of our current laser-guided systems in poor weather were highlighted.
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 30 October 2000, Official Report, column 272W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Mr. Smith) about plans for improving laser-guided bombing performance. We intend to procure an interim all-weather precision guided bombing capability for the RAF and have selected Raytheon Systems Corporation to supply the RAF Tornado GR4 aircraft, subject to the successful completion of contractual negotiations, with Enhanced Paveway Bombs.
We keep our training in precision-guided attacks under review to ensure that our crews are properly trained to employ the equipment they operate.