§ Mr. FallonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research into thermobaric weapons is being carried out by the Defence Research and Evaluation Agency at Fort Halstead. [145526]
§ Dr. MoonieWe are conducting research into new types of explosives. It would be irresponsible not to keep developments in this field under review, not least to develop protective measures for our own personnel.
As to the location and precise nature of that research, I am withholding information under Exemption 1 of Code of Practice on access to Government information.
§ Mr. FallonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date his Department first considered investigating whether to add thermobaric weapons to the British inventory. [145528]
§ Dr. MoonieWe are constantly conducting research into new types of explosives and have done so for many years. It would be irresponsible not to keep developments in this field under review, not least to develop protective measures for our own personnel.
On 23 August 2000, we issued a contracts bulletin asking industry to consider how best to provide an anti-structure weapon for the infantry in the urban environment. We acknowledged that this may involve using blast rather than fragmentation, but we have no specified how this capability is to be achieved.