§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 20 June 2003Official Report, column 510W, on defence procurement, when the various decisions were taken with regard to the forecast (a) in service date and (b) costs of the Bowman Communication System; and if he will make a statement. [122314]
§ Mr. IngramIn 2001, when approving the BOWMAN programme, Ministers noted that, under the schedule claimed by the prime contractor, the target in-service date would be 30 March 2004. The Company, its sub-contractors and the Department continue to work in close partnership to meet this challenging target. At the time of the ministerial approval, the forecast full 315W resource cost of the development and manufacture phase was some £1.9 billion. This was revised during the last annual planning round to £2.0 billion. Pursuant
Hansard reference Project Date contract let Current forecast ISD Current forecast cost (£ billion) Estimated ISD at time contract let Estimated cost at time contract let (£ billion) 110345 BOWMAN1 2001 2004 2.0 2004 1.9 1The BOWMAN costs refer to the Development and Manufacture Phase only.