§ Mr. Quentin DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the extent to which British forces can be provided with adequate ground-based theatre air defence against(a) aircraft, (b) Cruise missiles and (c) ballistic missiles in the event of an operational deployment where such cover is not by allies; and if he will make a statement. [143343]
§ Mr. HoonWhen deployed without support from our allies, UK forces would operate a concept of layered air defence. Point Defence is currently provided by a mixture of the Javelin and High Velocity Missile systems which are in service the with Army and Royal Marines. In addition we have a short range air defence capability which is provided by the Rapier air defence system in service with both the Army and RAF Regiment. All these systems have a capability against aircraft and Rapier has a limited capability against cruise missiles. Additional support could be provided by Naval systems which include Sea Dart and Seawolf. In the air we would operate the Tornado F3 and Sea Harrier FA2 fighter aircraft which would provide longer range defence against aircraft and a limited capability against cruise missiles. We continue to assess the potential role of theatre ballistic defence (TBMD) systems in countering missiles attacks but it remains our position that it would be premature to decide to acquire TBMD. Currently we would counter a ballistic missile threat through a broad range of offensive and defensive measures.