§ Mr. Menzies CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions(a) coalition aircraft and (b) UK aircraft patrolling the southern no-fly zone in Iraq have (i) detected violations of the no-fly zones, (ii) detected a direct threat to a coalition aircraft and (iii) released ordnance in (1) January and (2) February, stating for each month the tonnage of ordnance released; what has been (A) the nature of the violation detected, (B) the nature of the threat detected and (C) the category of target attacked in percentage terms; and if he will make a statement. [38414]
§ Mr. IngramThe information is:
- (i) No-fly-zone (NFZ) violations are detected in several ways, though rarely (if ever) by tactical aircraft. For reasons of operational security we do not release details of detection methods. No violations of the southern NFZ were detected in January or February.
- (ii) In January and February, coalition aircraft recorded threats on a total of 11 occasions, as follows:
- January-8
- February-3.
- 10 of the recorded threats were attacks by anti-aircraft artillery. The remaining one was an attack by other weapons.
- (iii) Coalition aircraft in the southern NFZ released 9 tons of ordnance in January, and none in February.
100 per cent. of ordnance released was in self-defence responses by coalition aircraft against military targets in the Iraqi Integrated Air Defence System.