§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made in relation to the memorandum of understanding between the UK and United States Governments to participate in the next development phase of the joint strike fighter. [1595]
§ Mr. HoonThe current JSF concept demonstration phase continues to make excellent progress. Following signature of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cover the UK's entry into the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the joint strike fighter programme in January this year, the process to select a single company to be awarded the EMD contract has been proceeding to schedule. As a result of our decision to sign the MOU, UK personnel are fully involved in this process. The plan remains to award the contract in October.