§ Mr. ViggersTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the defence capabilities initiative. [15090]
§ Mr. HoonNATO's Defence Capabilities Initiative was launched at the Washington Summit in April 1999 with a view to addressing shortfalls in military capabilities across the Alliance. Since then NATO nations have been working hard to implement the initiative. Progress has been made in many capability areas, including air to air refuelling; air and sealift and precision-guided munitions. The UK's own performance within the Defence Capabilities Initiative compares very well with the Alliance average.