§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to respond to the recommendations of the Defence Scientific Advisory council on a review of the L21 A 1 plastic baton round; and if he will place a copy of the report in the Library. [77102]
§ Mr. IngramThe review of L21A1 baton round performance after one year in service was completed and provided to the Sub-committee (SC) of the Defence Scientific Advisory Council (DSAC) as requested in June of this year.
The SC, DSAC have considered the review and have issued a statement, which is reproduced below. I am also placing a copy of the statement in the Library of the House. It concludes that there is no reason to amend the previous SC, DSACstatement that was placed in the Library of the House by my right hon Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 2 April 2001.
The SC, DSAC statement also notes that some attempts have been made to suggest that the committee consider the L21A1 to be more dangerous than the previous system. The statement refutes these suggestions and states clearly that it is the view of the SC, DSAC that the L21A 1/L 104 weapon system is safer than its predecessor.