HC Deb 20 November 2001 vol 375 c170W
Mr. Jenkin

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many S10 NBC suits his Department has in stock and what is the average life expectancy from first use. [16159]

Mr. Ingram

The current in-service NBC suit is the Mk4. There are sufficient stocks of the suit to meet defence planning assumptions. I am withholding the information relating to specific quantities under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

The Mk4 NBC suit has a shelf life, vacuum packed, of eight years. Once unpacked, the suit remains operational for 28 days. In adverse biological and chemical environmental conditions this time would be considerably reduced.