Royal Navy (Hansard, 16 October 2001)

§ Dr. Moonie

This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Robert Walmsley to Mr. Michael Hancock, dated 16 October 2001: I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence concerning integration of the US Navy's Co-operative Engagement Capability into the Royal Navy's surface fleet. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief of Defence Procurement and Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I refer you to the answer given on 25 July 2000 (official record col 542). Assessment studies to fit the Co-operative Engagement Capability (CEC) to Type 23 Frigates are being undertaken by Lockheed Martin UK Integrated Systems and Raytheon Systems Limited, with each company being supported by a number of potential sub-contractors. A competition has been conducted between them for the second phase of assessment work. Contract award is forecast for the first half of 2002. A separate package of work, to assess fitting the capability to the Type 45 destroyer, is being undertaken by BAE Systems Electronics Limited, the Type 45 Prime Contractor. The estimated procurement cost of integrating CEC into Type 23 and Type 45 is £255M and the latest estimate of the whole life cost is £415M. Both figures are at 2001 outturn prices. I regret that the figure of £250M for whole life costs, given in the answer of 25 July 2000, related to support costs alone and was intended to be additional to the quoted procurement costs. The correct whole life cost estimate at that time was therefore £424M. The programme is still at an early stage; costs, performance and timing will be refined before the main investment decision at Main Gate.